Dr. Paul K. Gellert is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He specializes in the political economy of development; natural resources, states, capital and peripheral development; comparative-historical sociology; and development theory. Regionally, he focuses on Asia, specifically Indonesia, where he has spent many years living and conducting research. He has been a visiting fellow in the Department of Sociology, FISIP, Universitas Indonesia (2007) in Depok, Indonesia and at the Institute of Asian Cultures, Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan (2005). He also has been a visiting scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin's Department of Sociology in 1998. He first had the opportunity to go to Indonesia with VIA (Volunteers in Asia).
When he's not working, Paul likes to spend time with his wife and two children, cook & eat Italian and Southeast Asian food, drink really good coffee and beer, and attempt to get in better shape by bicycling.