Brian Stoddart is Professor Emeritus at La Trobe University where he served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) and as Vice-Chancellor. Brian took his first two degrees at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand where he first became interested in India, then completed a PhD at the University of Western Australia that looked at the rise of nationalism in south India. That work led to his major work on Andhra Pradesh Land, Water, Language and Politics in Andhra: Regional Evolution in India Since 1850 and to the biography of a maverick Indian Civil Service officer A People’s Collector in the British Raj: Arthur Galletti. Along with his work on India, Brian has been a pioneering writer in sports culture and has produced books on Australian sport, Caribbean cricket and other related subjects. Those strands have come together in his recent research into the Indian Premier league and its global impact.
He is also working on a project concerning Australia’s historical “soft power” in India focused on horse racing. Brian Stoddart has also worked on higher education reform projects in the Middle East and Southeast Asia as consultant to World Bank, Asian Development Bank and European Union projects. Brian also writes the Superintendent Le Fanu crime novel series set in 1920s Madras and the third of them, A Straits Settlement, was longlisted for the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Award for best New Zealand crime novel.