We are saddened by the passing of our colleague and friend Dr Iwu Dwisetyani Utomo on 12 May after a period of illness. Iwu had a long affiliation with the ANU. She gained her PhD from the Demography Program at the Australian National University in 1998, and returned as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2000 when she received the Merdeka Fellowship Award. Between 2002 and 2008 she was located at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health where she worked on research projects about gender, sexuality and health, including an ARC project on Harmful Sexual Practices in Southeast Asia. In 2008 she joined Demography in RSSS, and worked on a number of large scale projects in Indonesia funded by ARC, WHO, Ford Foundation and AusAID. These projects included a longitudinal study on the transition to adulthood in Greater Jakarta, and a project on ageing in rural Indonesia. Iwu has provided consultancy research to a large number of organisations, including the Asian Development Bank, CIDA, AusAID, Australian Reproductive Health Alliance, Marie Stopes International, and Care Timor Lester.

Iwu was a strong advocate for gender studies in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, and was the Gender and Population node leader for the ANU Gender Institute. She has been recognised for her incredible contributions including being named an Outstanding ANU Woman (2010), and an ANU Inspiring Woman (2012). Most recently she was awarded the ANU Supervisor of the Month award in October 2020. Iwu embraced academia. She was a dedicated researcher, educator, and ally and supervisor of research students. She will be greatly missed by staff, students, alumni, and the ANU Indonesian community.

Plans are underway for a celebration of Iwu’s contributions to ANU, with further details to follow.