Professor Rory Medcalf is a former Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute.

He has been Head of the National Security College (NSC) at the Australian National University since 2015. He has led the expansion of the College into policy engagement and futures analysis, as well as executive development, education and research. He was founding Director of the International Security Program at the Lowy Institute from 2007 to 2015.

Professor Medcalf worked as a senior strategic analyst with the Office of National Assessments (now the Office of National Intelligence). He was an Australian diplomat, with assignments in New Delhi, Tokyo and Bougainville. He has contributed to three landmark reports on nuclear arms control. His earlier work in journalism was commended in Australia’s leading media awards, the Walkleys, in 1991. He has been recognised as a thought leader internationally for his work on the influential Indo-Pacific concept, as articulated in his book Contest for the Indo-Pacific (released internationally as Indo-Pacific Empire).

Professor Medcalf was a member of the advisory panel on the Australian Government’s 2016 Defence White Paper. He is on the board of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations, the ASEAN Regional Forum Register of Experts and Eminent Persons, and the scientific advisory council of the Finnish Institute for International Affairs. In 2022 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to international relations and tertiary education.