Frank Stilwell is Emeritus Professor in Political Economy in the School of Social and Political Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, where he taught for 50 years since arriving as a lecturer in economics in 1970. He holds a BSc in social sciences from the University of Southampton and a PhD in economics from the University of Reading, with his doctoral thesis on regional development in South East England. Prior to Sydney, he was a lecturer in economics at the University of Reading. Stilwell was instrumental in establishing the independent Discipline of Political Economy, serving as its first Director from 1983 into the 1990s and appointed the inaugural Professor of Political Economy in 2000. He officially retired in 2012 but continued occasional teaching, delivering his last honours undergraduate unit in 2020.

Stilwell's research specializations encompass political economy, economic inequality, urban and regional development, critiques of economic rationalism, and alternative economic strategies emphasizing social justice and ecological sustainability. He is the author of twelve books, including Political Economy: The Contest of Economic Ideas (Oxford University Press, 2002; third edition 2012), The Political Economy of Inequality (Polity Press, 2019), Changing Track: A New Political Economic Direction for Australia (Pluto Press, 2000), Who Gets What?: Analysing Economic Inequality in Australia (with Kirrily Jordan, Cambridge University Press, 2007), Understanding Cities & Regions: Spatial Political Economy (Pluto Press, 1992), and Reshaping Australia: Urban Problems and Policies (Pluto Press, 1993). He co-edited volumes such as Handbook of Alternative Theories of Political Economy (Edward Elgar, 2022), Economics as a Social Science: Readings in Political Economy (with G. Argyrous, Pluto Press, 2003), and Beyond the Market: Alternatives to Economic Rationalism (Pluto Press, 1993). Highly cited publications include Political Economy (2004, 518 citations) and Regional Growth and Structural Adaptation (1969, 246 citations). Stilwell received the University of Sydney Award for Excellence in Teaching and is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (FASSA). He serves as coordinating editor of the Journal of Australian Political Economy and on the editorial boards of Regional Studies and Australian Options; the Frank Stilwell Award in Political Economy is named in his honor.

Professional Email: frank.stilwell@sydney.edu.au