James Reardon-Anderson (April 1, 1944 – November 27, 2022)^[1] was an American academic administrator and scholar on China and the Middle East. He was the Sun Yat-sen Professor of Chinese Studies at Georgetown University, the founding Dean of its Qatar campus, and director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service program.^[2] Additionally, he was the interim Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service from 2013 to 2015.^[3][4]

Reardon-Anderson was a graduate of Williams College and Columbia University.^[5] He was the author of five books on Chinese history, including The Study of Change: Chemistry in China, 1840–1949, which is considered "the first full-length study of the history of a modern science in China."^[6]

Reardon-Anderson was born on April 1, 1944. He grew up in Farmington, Michigan. He obtained a B.A. in History from Williams College before earning an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1975.^[5]

He was married to Kathleen Reardon-Anderson.^[7] They had a daughter, Jane, and two sons, Peter and William.^[1]

Reardon-Anderson first visited and developed an interest in China in 1966, when he taught English in Hong Kong through the Williams in Hong Kong program.^[2]

He then taught at the University of Michigan and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies before serving as the director of the Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Studies in Taipei in the 1980s. Reardon-Anderson also led the C.V. Starr East Asian Library of Columbia University as chief librarian from 1982 to 1985.^[5]

Reardon-Anderson joined the faculty of Georgetown University in 1985, where he taught history and the signature "Maps of the Modern World" course of the School of Foreign Service.^[8][9][1] He led the university's Asian Studies program from 1992 to 1995 and then the Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) program from 2002 to 2005.^[10] He also served as the director of the Committee on Scholarly Communication with the People's Republic of China of the National Academies from 1990 to 1992, in which he oversaw a joint project between Western and Chinese scientists on the grassland ecosystem in China.^[11]

In 2005, Reardon-Anderson became the founding dean of Georgetown's branch campus in Qatar, serving from 2005 to 2009 and subsequently returning in 2016.^[12] During his tenure as dean, he led the joint efforts with the Qatar Foundation to protect migrant worker safety and welfare.^[13] He was also the interim Dean of the School of Foreign Service from 2013 to 2015.^[3][4] He transitioned to the faculty in 2017 and retired from his teaching at Georgetown in 2021.^[14]

Following his death, the School of Foreign Service in Qatar, where Reardon-Anderson served as the founding chair, named its library after him. Additionally, Georgetown University created the James Reardon-Anderson Medal, which is awarded to the graduating student with the strongest commitment to Reardon-Anderson's signature course, Map of the Modern World. The inaugural recipient was Kiernan Christ, a long-time teaching assistant for the Map course.^[15]