Rate My Professor Anne Pattel-Gray

Professor Anne Pattel-Gray serves as Academic Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit within the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) at the University of Queensland. A descendant of the Bidjara people of Queensland, she is recognised as a leading Indigenous scholar and theologian. Pattel-Gray earned her PhD in Studies of Religion from the University of Sydney in 1995, the first Aboriginal person to be awarded this degree at the institution. Her doctoral thesis was published as the seminal book The Great White Flood: Racism in Australia: Critically Appraised from an Aboriginal Historico-Theological Viewpoint in 1998 by Scholars Press, critically examining racism from an Indigenous perspective.

Prior to joining UQ, Pattel-Gray held the position of Professor of Indigenous Studies and inaugural Head of the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Divinity, leading initiatives in Indigenous theological education and research from 2022 to 2024. At UQ, she supervises postgraduate research, serving as principal advisor for the PhD thesis "Voices of Transformation: The Impact of Indigenous Leadership in Australian Higher Education," associate advisor for the MPhil "Framing Indigenous Philosophy: Developing a Relational Model for Aboriginal Discourse Beyond Western Epistemology," and another PhD on "Amplifying Leadership and Voices of Indigenous women environmental rangers." She contributes to governance through roles on the Indigenous Learning Sub-Committee of the Academic Board, Committee for Academic Programs Policy, and Coursework Admission Standards Sub-Committee. Pattel-Gray is a recipient of UQ teaching and learning grant funding totalling $95,832 for promoting ethical student use of artificial intelligence in Indigenous Studies contexts. She guest lectures in courses such as ABTS1050 and HUMN3300, and engages in public discourse, including reflections on the 1967 Referendum's significance. Her work advances indigenising curriculum and decolonising approaches in higher education.