Rory Medcalf

Professor Rory Medcalf has been Head of the National Security College at the Australian National University since January 2015. He has led the expansion of the College into policy engagement as well as education executive devel pment and research. His professional background involves more than two decades of experience across diplomacy intelligence analysis, think tanks and journalism, including a formative role as Director oftbe International Security Program at the Lowy Institute.

In govemment, Professor Medcalfworked as a senior strategic analyst with the Office of National Assessments, Canberra's peak intelligence analysis agency. He was also an Australian diplomat, with wide experience including a posting to New Delhi, a secondment to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, truce monitoring after the civil conflict in Bougainville and policy development on Asian security institutions. He has contributed to three landmark reports on nuclear arms control: the 1996 Canberra Commission, 1999 Tokyo Forum and 2009 International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament.

His earlier work in journalism was commended in Australia's leading media awards, the Walkleys.

Professor Medcalf has been prominent in developing Australia' s relations with India. He has been Associate Director of the Australia-India Institute and Senior Research Fellow in Indian Strategic Affairs at the University of New South Wales. He is the founding convener and co­ chair of the Australia-India Policy Forum, an influential informai dialogue between the two countries. He has been recognised as a thought leader internationally for his work on the Indo­ Pacific concept of the Asian maritime strategic environment.

Professor Medcalf was a member of the expert panel providing independent advice on the Australian Govemment's 2016 Defence White Paper. His research areas include Australia's security challenges, the further development of an Indo-Pacific concept of the Asian strategic environment, China-India relations, and prospects for maritime and nuclear stability in Indo­ Pacific Asia, on which he has led projects funded by the MacArthur Foundation. He is currently chief investigator in a major two-year research project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, examining the risks to nuclear stability from new submarine­ detection technologies.

Professor Medcalf is a member of the editorial boards of Asia Policy and the Australian Journal oflnternational Affairs. He is a Non-resident Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy with the Brookings Institution in Washington DC and retains affiliations as a Non-resident Fellow with the Lowy Institute for International Policy and the Seapower Centre of the Royal Australian Navy.

Professor Medcalf also teaches the NSC's National Security in the Indo-Pacific and National Security Policymaking courses