Academic, author and activist Professor Marcia Langton AO FASSA FTSE has been awarded the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia’s Rechnitz Memorial Award – a new award created to recognise excellence in research leadership and advancement of knowledge of Indigenous society, culture and language
A descendant of the Yiman and Bidjara nations, Marcia has spent more than four decades championing the rights, voices, and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Currently the Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies and an Associate Provost at the University of Melbourne, Marcia’s work has contributed to scholarship across a broad range of topics including Aboriginal land and property relations, native title law and Indigenous participation in the resource economy.
An anthropologist and geographer by training, Marcia has written more than 100 academic papers and 15 books including Welcome to Country and 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art.
Appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2020, and previously a Member (AM) in 1993, Marcia was made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 2003 – the first Indigenous scholar to join the Academy. The University of Melbourne awarded her the title of Melbourne Laureate Professor in 2025.
Marcia was a member of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians in 2019, appointed by then Prime Minister Julia Hillard, laying the groundwork for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament. She co-chaired the Senior Advisory Group with Professor Tom Calma for the Voice Co-design Project from 2019-2021.
Academy President Professor Kate Darian Smith said that Marcia was an exceptional winner for the first Rechnitz Memorial Award.
‘Marcia is a force of nature. She is a highly influential teacher, scholar, advocate and spokesperson for Aboriginal people and the social sciences,’ Professor Darian-Smith said.
‘Marcia continues to make Australia better with her irrepressible commitment to knowledge, fairness, empowerment and reconciliation.’
Professor Langton will deliver the first Rechnitz Lecture in early 2026.
The Rechnitz Memorial Award is open to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars. Nominees are chosen and endorsed by Fellows the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia or the Australian Academy of Humanities.
The Rechnitz Memorial Award is funded by the Wilhelm, Martha and Otto Rechnitz Memorial Fund, which was established by the Academy in 2022 following receipt of a donation from the estate of Wilhelm Rechnitz.