Katherine Darian-Smith, (born 25 February 1961) is an Australian social historian and academic. She is executive dean and pro vice-chancellor at the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College (University of Tasmania), Christ College, one of the unive ...

Early life and education

Katherine Darian-Smith was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, New South Wales, in 1961. She is the daughter of neuroscientist Ian Darian-Smith, who became a professor at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1972. She was educated at Kew High School and then the

, receiving a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

with

Honours Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself as a code of conduct, and has various elements such as valo ...

in 1983 and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in 1988.

Career

Prior to her appointment as lecturer at the University of Melbourne in 1995, Darian-Smith had worked in the history department of the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, at Ballarat University College and spent 1992 to 1994 at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

as deputy director, Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies. Since 2017 Darian-Smith has been executive dean and pro vice-chancellor at the

. She remains an honorary professorial fellow of the University of Melbourne. Darian-Smith was elected Fellow of the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Aus ...

in 2008, and since 2019 has held a position on its executive committee. She is on the editorial board of ''

History Compass ''History Compass'' is a peer-reviewed online-only academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. Originally launched in association with the Institute of Historical Research (London), its aim is to "solve the problem of keeping up with new develo ...

'' for the Australasia and Pacific region.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darian-Smith, Kate 1961 births Living people University of Melbourne alumni Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Academic staff of the University of Tasmania Australian women historians Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Historians from Sydney Australian women non-fiction writers