Professor Kenneth Chern

PhD (Chic.)

Professor Chern has returned to academia as Professorial Research Fellow at Murdoch University following a 27-year career in the US Foreign Service.  He served as US Consul General in Perth, as Deputy Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, and as Deputy Director of the Office of Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore Affairs at the US Department of State.

Professor Chern was also posted to Beijing, Taipei, Hong Kong, Manila, and Cebu; and to the State Department’s China Desk, Japan Desk, and Australia/New Zealand Desk.  Serving at the White House as Director of Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, he helped to organise the first APEC leaders meeting hosted by President Bill Clinton in Seattle.

Professor Chern holds a PhD in the history of US-East Asian relations from the University of Chicago.  Before joining government, he taught for two years at the University of Rochester and for ten years at the University of Hong Kong.  He published a book, numerous scholarly articles and op-eds on U.S.-East Asian relations, and researched and presented a seven-week television series on 20th Century China.

Contact Details
Professor Kenneth Chern, Professor of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Murdoch University, Murdoch 6150, Western Australia. Email: K.Chern@murdoch.edu.au