Curriculum Vitae

Name: Linda Jakobson
Birth: 4th July 1959, Islington, London
Nationality: Finland (permanent resident of Australia)
Marital status: Married
Profession: Researcher, author

Employment

Founding Director, interim CEO

China Matters

1 August 2020 to present

Chief Executive Officer

China Matters

February 2015 – July 2019

Visiting Professor

United States Studies Centre, University of Sydney

Jan 2014 – Dec 2015

Nonresident Fellow

Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney

Jan 2014 - June 2015

Director of East Asia Program

Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney

April 2011 – December 2013

Director of China and Global Security Programme, Senior Researcher

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), based in Beijing

March 2009 – March 2011

Senior Researcher

Finnish Institute of International Affairs, based in Beijing

2008 – 2009

Director of China Programme

Finnish Institute of International Affairs, based in Beijing

2004 – 2007

Senior Researcher

Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), based in Hong Kong

2002 – 2004

Lecturer, Adjunct Faculty

Syracuse University/Hong Kong Center

Fall 2002, spring 2003, spring 2004

Courses in Political History and Political Economies of East Asia

Researcher

Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Helsinki

1998 – 2001

Far East correspondent based in Beijing

Suomen Kuvalehti, Finland's leading news weekly magazine

1992 – 1997

In 1995 also part-time stringer for The Guardian (London)

Foreign news reporter

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's largest daily newspaper

1990 – 1992

Fellow

Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, Shorenstein Barone Center on Press, Politics, & Public Policy

1990

Researcher

Finland's Ministry of Trade & Industry, based in Beijing

1989

Topic of research: "China's Decision-making policies"

English teacher

Shandong Institute of Economics, Jinan, China

1987 – 1988

Education

University Education

  • Helsinki University
    B.A. (major: political history), 1978-1983
  • Chinese University in Hong Kong, Yale University Language Center
    6 months Mandarin reading course, Sep 2001-Feb 2002

Chinese Language Studies

  • Beijing Normal College - Chinese language studies, spring 1987, spring 1989
  • Shandong Teachers University, Jinan - Chinese studies, autumn 1988

Other Language Studies

  • Japanese Language School, Tokyo - Elementary Japanese studies, 2 months in 1991

Secondary Education

  • Tölö Svenska Samskolan, Helsinki (Senior High School), 1975-1977
  • Minerva High School, Stockholm, 1974
  • Anglo-American School, Stockholm, 1973
  • Elementary and Junior High School, Pelham, New York, 1965-1972

Languages

English
Mother tongue (English mother)
Finnish
Fluent (Finnish father)
Swedish
Excellent
Mandarin Chinese
Excellent
Japanese
Elementary knowledge
French
Elementary knowledge

Awards, Grants & Positions of Trust (Selected)

February 2017

Invited to join inaugural advisory board of the Diplomatic Academy of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra

September 2014

Invited as member of advisory board of La Trobe Asia, Melbourne

May 2013

Invited as member of editorial board of the Asan Forum by Asan Institute for Policy Studies, Seoul

January 2011

Granted Albie Award 2010 for SIPRI report "New Foreign Policy Actors in China"

March 1998

Won the Finnish Government Non-Fiction Publication Award for "Miljoona totuutta. Vuosikymmen Kiinassa" (documentary book about China)

Spring 1990

Awarded fellowship at Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, & Public Policy, Harvard University