Anies Baswedan

Anies Baswedan
27th Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia
Incumbent
Assumed office
27 October 2014
President Joko Widodo
Preceded by Muhammad Nuh
Rector of Paramadina University
Incumbent
Assumed office
2007
Preceded by Nurcholish Madjid
Personal details
Born Anies Rasyid Baswedan
7 May 1969
Kuningan, West Java, Indonesia
Nationality Indonesian
Political party Independent
Spouse(s) Fery Farhati Ganis
Children Mutiara Annisa Baswedan
Mikail Azizi Baswedan
Kaisar Hakam Baswedan
Ismail Hakim Baswedan
Alma mater Gadjah Mada University
University of Maryland, College Park
Occupation Academician
Religion Islam
Website aniesbaswedan.com

Anies Rasyid Baswedan (born 7 May 1969 in Kuningan) is an Indonesian academician. He is currently the Minister of Culture and Primary & Secondary Education. He was Rector of Paramadina University in Jakarta, Indonesia when appointed by Joko Widodo for the position. He is the initiator and chairman of Indonesia Mengajar (Teaching Indonesia).

As a student, he was actively involved in the Indonesian student movements during Suharto's authoritarian regime. He is known as one of the few Indonesian student leaders from the early 1990s movements to win a Fulbright scholarship and study abroad for graduate school. He is now a prominent political analyst and highly respected young leader in Indonesia. He is also known as one of Indonesia's youngest university presidents.

Education

Baswedan holds a PhD in Political Science from Northern Illinois University, a Master of Public Policy degree in International Security and Economic Policy from University of Maryland School of Public Policy, College Park, and a degree in Business Management from Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He has received several distinguished awards such as the 2010 Yasuhiro Nakasone Awards, the 50 Distinguished NIU Alumni Awards, The Bina Antar Budaya Award (AFS Indonesia) the Fulbright Scholarship, the 2004 Gerald Maryanov Fellow from Northern Illinois University, Indonesian Cultural Foundation Scholarship in New York and William P. Cole III Fellowship from the University of Maryland. He was also awarded the JAL Scholarship to attend Summer Session of Asian Studies at Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan when he was a student at Gadjah Mada University.

Career

In June 2009, Baswedan was elected to serve as moderator for the first presidential debate ever conducted in Indonesia; a historic event, broadcast live by all national TV networks. No less than 100 million people watched the debate. He is also known as a member of the Team of Eight, appointed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to investigate the criminal charges against two commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission brought by the Indonesian Police. The case had wide media coverage for weeks. More than one million facebookers marched for the support of the two commissioners. Baswedan was elected by the Team to be the spokesperson. His systematic, eloquent and diplomatic remarks during the continuous press conferences at the times of crisis had helped to clarify facts and reduce political tension.

Baswedan is not affiliated with any political parties or groups. He accepted the invitation to participate as one of the 45 declarators in the launching of a new organization called Nasional Demokrat. The 45 declarators were coming from various professional backgrounds. Baswedan declined to join the organization. Baswedan’s stance is identical with Syafii Ma'arif (former Chairman of Muhammadiyah), Rizal Sukma (Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Indonesia)), dan Eep Saefullah Fatah (Executive Director of PollMark). They welcome the invitation to participate as declarators but all of them declined to be active in the group. Baswedan continues to remain non-partisan although many political observers had already named him as a potential candidate for the national leadership and many Indonesia political groups were keen to have Baswedan join their parties. In December 2011, Baswedan was appointed by President Yudhoyono to serve member of the team to select candidates for the leadership of the National Election Committee.

Achievement

US magazine Foreign Policy named him as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world in May 2008 [1] and the World Economic Forum included him in the 2009 Young Global Leaders. In April 2010, the Japanese magazine Foresight, a Tokyo based international affairs magazine,[2] published a special report entitled: 20 Persons 20 Years. This report lists 20 persons (from all continents) to be watched in the next 20 years, Baswedan is included in that list along with names such as Vladimir Putin (Russia), David Miliband (UK), Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), and Rahul Gandhi (India). He is the only person from Southeast Asia included in this list. In July 2010, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Jordan listed him in the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world. In November 2010, PASIAD of Turkey granted Baswedan the PASIAN Education Award for his roles in advancing education in rural areas of Indonesia.

Works

Baswedan’s publications include “Political Islam in Indonesia: Present and Future Trajectory,” Asian Survey, a Bimonthly Review of Contemporary Asian Affairs published by University of California, Berkeley, Indonesian Politics in 2007: The Presidency, Local Elections and The Future of Democracy published by BIES, Australian National University and numerous op-ed articles in leading newspapers and magazines in Indonesia.

Family

He is married and lives in Jakarta. His grandfather, AR Baswedan, was a Minister of Information during the revolution and one of the founding fathers of Indonesia. He has four children: Mutiara, Mikail, Kaisar and Ismail.

References

  1. ↑ Foreign Policy: Top 100 Intellectuals
  2. ↑ Foresight - International Affairs Monthly Magazine

External links