We are saddened by the passing of our colleague and friend Dr Iwu Dwisetyani Utomo on 12 May after a period of illness. Iwu was a respected demographer who specialised in gender and population. 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. While at the School of Demography at ANU she 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 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.
Iwu Utomo became an IUSSP member in 2002. She served as a member of the Panel on Young People’s Life Course in Developing Countries (2011-14)