Penelope Ann Russell, (born 20 March 1961) is an Australian social historian. She is Bicentennial Professor of Australian History at the University of Sydney.

Early life and education

Penelope Ann Russell was born in 1961 in

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Maryborough had a population of 15,287. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mary River in Queensland, Australia, approximate ...

, to teacher/librarian Mary Gertrude Russell (née Thompson) and dentist Gerald Victor Russell. As a young child, she moved with her family to Ballarat and attended primary school and then

Ballarat East High School Ballarat Secondary College is a multi-campus college, formed in 1993 by the amalgamation of three existing secondary colleges. The college now comprises two campuses, Woodman's Hill and Mount Rowan, each having different uniforms, crests and adm ...

, where she sat the Higher School Certificate in 1978. She completed a Bachelor of Arts with Honours at Monash University in 1982 with a her thesis "'Mothers of the Race': A Study of the First Thirty Women Medical Graduates from the University of Melbourne". She was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 1990 by the University of Melbourne and her first book, ''A Wish of Distinction'', published in 1994, was developed from her PhD thesis.

Career

Russell spent two years in the Australian Public Service before beginning her PhD. She lectured at the University of Melbourne,

RMIT RMIT University, officially the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology,, section 4(b) is a public research university in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1887 by Francis Ormond, RMIT began as a night school offering classes in art, scienc ...

and Victorian College Rusden before moving to the University of Sydney as an Australian history lecturer in 1990. She was appointed senior lecturer in 1995, associate professor in 2006 and full professor in 2013, shortly afterwards becoming Bicentennial Professor of Australian History. With Richard White, Russell was co-editor of the journal ''History Australia'' from 2009 to 2012.

Awards and recognition

Russell was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (FAHA) in 2012. She won the Australian History Prize at the

New South Wales Premier's History Awards The NSW Premier's History Awards honour distinguished achievement in the interpretation of history, through both the written word and non-print media by Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. History The State Government of New ...

for ''Savage or Civilised?'' in 2011. She was awarded the 2023 Ross Stelle AM Fellowship by the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

to explore the Sydney streetscapes by John Rae.

Selected works

Books

* * * * * * * Worden, Nigel; Russell, Penny (eds.): ''Honourable Intentions?: Violence and Virtue in Australian and Cape Colonies, c. 1750 to 1850''. (London: Routledge, 2016)

Articles

Personal

Russell and James Andrew Campbell married in 1987. They have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Penny 1961 births Living people Monash University alumni University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Sydney Australian women historians Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities