Nicholas Tarling

Background

Nicholas Tarling was born in 1931 and obtained his secondary education at Saint Albans School.

Education

He also earned his Doctor of Philosophy at Cambridge, supervised by Doctor Victor Purcell.

Career

He specialises in Southeast Asian history, and has written on eighteenth and nineteenth century Malaysia. North Borneo; Philippines. Laos, especially foreign involvement in these countries.

As an undergraduate at Christ"s College, Cambridge, he was supervisedby among othersthe late Sir John H. Plumb.

In 1957 he took up a teaching post at the University of Queensland in Gordon Greenwood"s Department of History and Political Science. There, he taught courses in both European and Asian history.

During those years he visited Southeast Asia and the United States, and published three books: a revised version of his thesis. Anglo-Dutch Relations in the Malay World.

Piracy and Politics in the Malay World.

In 1965 Tarling was appointed associate professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, and in 1968 he became a full professor, still as a European and Asian history teacher. He also held posts as Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Chairman of the Deans Committee, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor. He also served on a number of inter-university and government committees.

His interest in the arts led to his appointment to Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council, to the chairmanship of the Symphonia of Auckland, and to a directorship of Opera New Zealand.

He was a busy amateur actor and served for many years as University Orator. He retired in 1996 and since he has been a Fellow of the New Zealand Asia Institute and served for a while as Director of the Institute and later of the International Office.

He was also a visiting Professor at UBD and honorary professor at University of Hull.

Achievements

• He was the founder and president of the New Zealand Asian Studies Society (NZASIA) and also had two terms as President of the Association of University Teachers of New Zealand. He was awarded the Cambridge Doctor of Letters in 1974 and given an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Auckland in 1996, when he was also made Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM).