Michael Wesley (1968) is an Australian academic of Indian descent. He was appointed Professor of International Relations and Deputy VC International at the University of Melbourne in 2019, and was previously Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific and Professor at The Australian National University. He also consults extensively for the Australian government.

Early life and education

Wesley was born in India but moved to Australia with his parents aged four years old. He grew up in

Nambour Nambour is a rural town and locality in the Sunshine Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Nambour had a population of 11,187 people. Geography Nambour is north of the state capital, Brisbane. The town lies in the sub ...

, south-east Queensland. Wesley went to

Nambour State High School Nambour State College is a co-educational, state high school located in Nambour, Queensland, Australia. Established on 2 February 1953. In 2006 the school had enrolment figures of 1,367, including adult students. Previously it was called the Na ...

, and then to the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. He completed a PhD at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in Scotland. Michael Wesley is the son of the internationally renowned artist Frank Wesley.

Career

Michael Wesley has worked for the Queensland State government and as a lecturer and senior lecturer at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

. He spent time on secondment from UNSW to the

Office of National Assessments The Office of National Assessments (ONA) was an Australian statutory intelligence agency established by the ''Office of National Assessments Act 1977'' as an independent statutory body directly accountable to the Prime Minister of Australia as ...

. In 2004, he became Professor of International Relations and Director of the Griffith Asia Institute at

Griffith University Griffith University is a public research university in South East Queensland on the east coast of Australia. Formally founded in 1971, Griffith opened its doors in 1975, introducing Australia's first degrees in environmental science and Asian ...

. He served as co-chairman of the Security and Prosperity working group at then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's

Australia 2020 Summit The Australia 2020 Summit was a convention, referred to in Australian media as a summit, which was held over 18-19 April 2008 at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, aiming to "help shape a long-term strategy for the nation's future". Announ ...

in 2008. He was a Visiting Professor at the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the f ...

in 2009. He worked as Executive Director of the

Lowy Institute for International Policy The Lowy Institute is an independent think tank founded in April 2003 by Frank Lowy to conduct original, policy-relevant research about international political, strategic and economic issues from an Australian perspective. It is based in Sydney ...

from June 2009 to August 2012.Lowy Institute for International Policy (2012)
Dr Michael Wesley to step down from Lowy Institute – Dr Michael Fullilove appointed Executive Director
Retrieved 18 August 2012. He became the Dean of the College of the Asia and the Pacific at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

before moving to the University of Melbourne in 2019.

Bibliography

Michael Wesley has authored several books on foreign policy, including: * ''Restless Continent: Wealth, Rivalry and Asia's New Geopolitics'' (Black Inc., 2015) * ''There Goes the Neighbourhood: Australia and the Rise of Asia'' (UNSW Press, 2011) * '' The Howard Paradox: Australian Diplomacy in Asia'' (ABC Books, 2007) * ''Editor. Making Australian Foreign Policy'', Second Edition (expanded and updated), (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2007) (with Allan Gyngell) * ''Editor. The Other Special Relationship: United States-Australia Relations at the Start of the Twenty-First Century'', Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, 2007 (with Jeffrey D. McCausland, Douglas T Stuart and William T. Tow) * ''Energy Security in Asia'', (London: Routledge Curzon, 2007) * ''Editor. Making Australian Foreign Policy'', First Edition, (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2003) (with Allan Gyngell) * ''Regional Organisations of the Asia-Pacific: Exploring Institutional Change'', (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003) * ''Casualties of the New World Order: The Causes of Failure of UN Missions to Civil Wars'' (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1997)

References

External links

Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs profileLowy Institute profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wesley, Michael Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academic staff of the University of New South Wales Academic staff of Griffith University Academic staff of the Australian National University Living people 1968 births