MAJOR GENERAL (Retired) PROFESSOR ADAM FINDLAY

Professor Adam Findlay is the Professor of Practice, Defence and Regional Security and is Founding Director of the Griffith University Defence Network (GDNet). He links Griffith University’s researchers and educators with the Department of Defence, Defence Industry and other universities to enhance national security capability development. He also lectures on leadership, organisational transformation, and geo-strategic security of the Indo-Pacific region.

He recently retired from the Army as a Major General with 37 years of military experience and has served in major military campaigns in East Timor, Iraq, Afghanistan and Southeast Asia. He continues part-time military service as a Strategic Advisor and Senior Mentor to a range of senior commanders across in the Australian Defence Force. He has built key international security relationship across the Indo-Pacific and has worked extensively with many regional security leaders on countering terrorism.

From 2017-2020 he was the Special Operations Commander for Australia responsible for all high-readiness special operations, where he also initiated significant organisational transformation and cultural reform. From 2016 to 2017 he commanded all coalition special forces in Iraq, culminating in the liberation of Mosul in 2017.

Professor Findlay was awarded his PhD from the University of New South Wales in 2014 and has studied as a Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School. In the 2021 Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List he was appointed as an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia. He has also been awarded the French Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur for enhancing the relationship between French and Australian Special Forces, and the US Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious command of the Special Operations Joint Task Force – Iraq.