Robert Elson

Biography

Emeritus Professor Elson undertook five years of theological study before enrolling at Monash University in Arts in 1970 where he completed a combined Honours degree in History and Politics with first-class honours in 1973. He tutored in the Departments of History and Politics at Monash in 1974 while he learned Dutch and Indonesian. Elson began doctoral study in the Department of History in 1975, having won a Commonwealth Postgraduate Scholarship, a Netherlands Government Scholarship and a Myer Foundation Grant. He was then appointed as Senior Teaching Fellow in the School of Modern Asian Studies (later School of International Business and Asian
Studies) at Griffith University. He was Dean, Faculty of Asian and International Studies at Griffith University (1994-96); Director, Griffith Asia Pacific Council (1997-2001); Director, Griffith Asia Pacific Research Institute (2001-03) before being appointed Professor of Southeast Asian History at the University of Queensland in 2003 until his retirement in 2010. He is currently a member of the Academic Commission (Wetenschapscommissie) and Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (2004-).