Sandy Gordon was awarded his BA from the University of Sydney in 1965 and his PhD from Cambridge University in 1976

He joined the Australian Public Service in 1977, subsequently working in the Office of National Assessments, AusAID and as Executive Director of the Asian Studies Council and Australian Literacy Council.

In 1990 he became a Fellow at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, where he worked on South Asia and the Indian Ocean.

In 1997 he was appointed head of intelligence in the AFP, a position he held until 2000. He then became Co-Chair of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Transnational Crime Working Group and a member of the National Expert Advisory Committee on Illicit Drugs.

Between 2003 and 2005 he lectured on terrorism and transnational crime at the Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales. From 2005 to 2008 he was Associate Professor, Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention, University of Wollongong.

He is currently a Professor with the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security, RegNet, College of the Asia-Pacific, Australian National University.

He is the author of a number of books on India, including Business and Politics (Manohar and the ANU), The Search for Substance (Department of International Relations, ANU), India’s Rise to Power>/i> (MacMillan Press) and Security and Security Building in the Indian Ocean Region (SDSC, ANU).