Malama Meleisea is adjunct Professor of Samoan Studies at the Centre for Samoan Studies, National university of Samoa. He holds a PhD in History from Macquarie University. He is the author of several books on Samoa, including The Making of Modern Samoa, 1987. He was Director of Pacific Studies Centres at the universities of Canterbury and Auckland, New Zealand. From 1999 to 2010, he worked for UNESCO in Thailand, Afghanistan and Bangladesh as Country Director.