Alumni

Frederick C. Teiwes
Political Science PhD '71

Professor Fred Teiwes, one of the world's leading authorities on Chinese elite politics, has retired from the University's Department of Government and International Relations.

Considered to be one of the most influential western scholars on modern Chinese politics, Professor Teiwes' published materials are regarded as a benchmark in their field.

Teiwes has written extensively on Chinese Communist Party history and is an expert on the life and times of two the country's core leaders, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

At his retirement dinner, David Shambaugh, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University (USA), said Teiwes was genuinely considered a giant in his field, "His published contributions have been seminal and personal presence considerable…I do not think I know of another researcher in our field with higher evidentiary standards. This professional trait has lodged Fred's studies in the prized 'definitive' category."

Frederick C. Teiwes received his B.A. from Amherst College in 1961, and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1971. He subsequently taught and conducted research at Cornell University, the Australian National University and, since 1976, at the University of Sydney where he until recently held a Personal Chair in Chinese Politics. He is now Emeritus Professor. He is the author of a number of books on Chinese elite politics including Politics and Purges in China (1979, 1993), Leadership, Legitimacy, and Conflict in China (1984), and Politics at Mao's Court (1990).

Professor Teiwes and Dr Warren Sun of Monash University have collaborated on various publications in recent years and have completed a new book, The Politics of Transition in China, 1972-1982: Volume I, The End of the Maoist Era, 1972-1976, scheduled for publication by M.E. Sharpe in early 2006.