Rate My Professor John Maynard

Emeritus Professor John Maynard is a prominent Indigenous historian and Worimi man from the Port Stephens region of New South Wales, serving as Professor of Aboriginal History and former Chair of Indigenous Studies and Head of the Wollotuka Institute at the University of Newcastle, where he now holds emeritus status. He earned his PhD from the University of Newcastle in 2003, a Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Australia, and a Diploma in Aboriginal Studies from the University of Newcastle. Maynard's career at the University of Newcastle commenced in 1997 as Research Officer in Aboriginal and Islander Health within the School of Medicine and Public Health. He progressed to Associate Lecturer in 1998, Research Academic from 1999 to 2006, and was appointed Professor and Head of School at the Wollotuka Institute (formerly Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies) in July 2006. Additional appointments include ARC Postdoctoral Fellow (2004-2006), Australian Research Fellow in Indigenous studies (2010), Adjunct Professor at the Australian National University National Centre for Indigenous Studies (2010-), Visiting History Fellow at the Australian National University (1996) and Flinders University (2002), and Visiting Scholar at Boston University African American Studies (2005). He directs the Purai Global Indigenous and Diaspora Research Centre and has served on executive committees such as the Australian Historical Association (2002-2004), AIATSIS Research Advisory Council, NSW History Council, and Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council.

Maynard's research specializations encompass Indigenous history, Aboriginal political and social history, race relations, sports history, comparative Native American and Aboriginal political history from 1900-1930 focusing on land, politics, and children, history of Aboriginal military service from the Boer War to the present, influences of African-American movements like Marcus Garveyism on Aboriginal activism, Indigenous education, oral history, international race relations, Aboriginal culture, language, health, and inter-relationships between Aboriginal men and white women. Key publications include Fight for Liberty and Freedom: The Origins of Australian Aboriginal Activism (2007, revised 2024), Aboriginal Stars of the Turf: Jockeys of Australian Racing History (2002), Aborigines and the Sport of Kings: Australian Jockeys (2013), The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe (2011, reprinted 2019), Living with the Locals: Early Europeans’ Experience of Indigenous Life (co-authored with Victoria Haskins, 2016), True Light and Shade: An Aboriginal Perspective of Joseph Lycett's Art (2014), and Callaghan: The University of Newcastle: Whose Traditional Land? (2015). His scholarship has garnered major awards including University of Newcastle Researcher of the Year (2008, 2012), Vice-Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence (2012), Fellowship of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (2014), New South Wales Premier's Indigenous History Fellowship (2003, 2007), and multiple ARC fellowships.