Topic: Juwono Sudarsono

Juwono Sudarsono (born Banjar Ciamis, West Java; 5 March 1942) is currently Republic of Indonesia Minister of Defense since October 2004. He was educated at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta (B.A., M.S.); The Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands; The University of California, Berkeley, USA (M.A.) ; and The London School of Economics, UK (Ph.D.). Son of the late Dr Sudarsono, who was Minister of Home Affairs and Minister for Social Affairs in the late 1940s, Juwono served as head of the department of International Relations and dean at the Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Indonesia (1985-1994) and taught at The School of Public and International Affairs, Columbia University, New York City in 1986-87.

In public service, Juwono Sudarsono has served as Vice Governor of The National Defence College (Lemhannas), 1995-1998; Minister of State for the Environment under President Soeharto, 1998; Minister for Education and Culture under President B.J. Habibie, 1998-1999; Minister for Defence under President Abdurrahman Wahid (the first civilian to occupy this position in 50 years), 1999-2000; Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Megawati Soekarnoputri, 2003-2004; and currently as Minister for Defence under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, since October 2004.