Ross Andrew Fitzgerald is an Australian academic, historian, novelist, secularist, and political commentator. Fitzgerald is an Emeritus Professor in History and Politics at Griffith University. He has published forty-two books, including three histories of Queensland, two biographies, works about Labor Party politics of the 1950s, with other books relating to philosophy, alcohol and Australian Rules football, as well as eight works of fiction, including seven political/sexual satires about his corpulent anti-hero Professor Dr Grafton Everest. In 2018 Ross Fitzgerald published the Grafton Everest sexual/political satire 'So Far, So Good : An entertainment'. In 2019, he published the Grafton Everest adventure 'The Dizzying Heights' and in March 2020, his memoir 'Fifty Years Sober'. Fitzgerald is an alcoholic who admitted in his memoir, My Name is Ross: An Alcoholic's Journey, to consuming excessive alcohol between the ages of 15 and 24 years, when he took his last drink. He has now been sober for years. At the 2016 federal election Fitzgerald was a candidate for the Australian Senate representing the state of New South Wales, standing for the Australian Sex Party, which is now renamed The Reason Party.
Biography
Born in Melbourne, Victoria on Christmas Day 1944, Fitzgerald was awarded his PhD in political theory from the University of New South Wales. His academic career has included appointments at Griffith University as a Lecturer between 1977 and 1986, a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor between 1987 and 1996, and a Personal Chair between 1996 and 2002. In 2002 Fitzgerald was appointed as Professor in History and Politics. During his time as an Australian Research CouncilSenior Research Fellow from 1992 to 1996, as well as writing two political biographies Professor Fitzgerald co-produced two ABCTV documentaries, also about E.G. Theodore and Australia's only Communist Party member of parliament, Fred Paterson. Fitzgerald writes regular columns and book reviews for The Weekend Australian, The Australian, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Canberra Times. He also appears on ABC Radio, ABC Television, the Alan Jones Show, SkyNews, and Channel 7 and is a regular guest speaker at The Sydney Institute. In addition to his academic and political commentary appointments, Fitzgerald has served as the Chair of Centenary of Federation Queensland between 1999 and 2002, a Judge of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Non Fiction and Australian History, a member of the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal from 2012 to 2016, a member of the Australian Government's Expert Advisory Group on Drugs and Alcohol between 2000 and 2013, a member of the New South WalesHeritage Council between 2003 and 2009, a member of the New South Wales Parole Board between 2002 and 2012, a member of Administrative Decisions Tribunal of New South Wales between 2002 and 2012, and a member of the Queensland Parole Board between 1997 and 2002. Fitzgerald is a life member of the Australian Republic Movement. In 2014 Fitzgerald as appointed a Member in the Order of Australia for significant service to education in the field of politics and history as an academic, and to community and public health organisations. His 2015 book, Going out backwards: a Grafton Everest adventure was shortlisted for the 2017 Russell Prize for Humour Writing.
Published works
Fitzgerald has published 42 books, including the following titles:
