Dr Thee Kian Wie
Dr Thee Kian Wie was an Indonesian economist, civil servant and public intellectual best known for his work on industrialisation and economic development.
Photo: Australian National University
Dr Thee Kian Wie was an Indonesian economist, civil servant and public intellectual best known for his work on industrialisation and economic development.
Born in 1935, Thee completed his doctorate in economics in the late 1950s and went on to join the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), in which he would retain membership until his retirement. He is remembered today as one of the foremost Indonesian economists of the 20th century.
Dr Thee Kian Wie had a long-standing relationship with the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, which he first visited in 1980. He would later say that his ‘long visit to the ANU and subsequent visits really changed my life and gave a strong boost to my academic career.’
He came to consider Canberra as ‘a second home’.
Among his many awards was an honorary doctorate from the ANU awarded in 2004. Thee died after a short illness in February 2014.