Wearing a batik dress with matching blue-porcelain beads around her neck, Mary Somers Heidhues quips that she is wearing a fusion of two of her passions in life -- Indonesian and Chinese culture.

Heidhues' name is widely known among academics and researchers interested in the ethnic Chinese of Indonesia and Southeast Asia.

She said that her interest in Indonesia's ethnic Chinese began with a childhood fascination with China; growing up as an only child in Washington D.C., Heidhues had many books on the country.

"Like every child in America, I tried to dig a tunnel through to China," she said, smiling as she reflected on her childhood.

Now she "digs in archives" at libraries in Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe, as well as in the United States. She is also a faithful patron of Indonesia's National Archives.

According to Mely G. Tan, a prominent sociologist who has studied Indonesia's ethnic Chinese extensively, Heidhues' doctoral dissertation -- Peranakan Chinese Politics in Indonesia -- is one of the most comprehensive English language studies on the Chinese community in Indonesia during the revolutionary era.

The dissertation covers, in great detail, the participation and representation of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia's political arena until the early 1960s.

Mely became acquainted with Heidhues at Cornell University, in the U.S., when they shared an office in its Modern Indonesia Project (CMIP) building.

Both scholars recall CMIP fondly as a place where professors and students from all over the world convene to become ambitious "Southeast Asianists" and "Indonesianists".

Sharing the office, Heidhues and Mely had the opportunity to discuss and debate many issues revolving around their common topic of interest.

In 1961, Heidhues and Mely both traveled to Indonesia -- Heidhues to begin her fieldwork and Mely to return home after obtaining her Master's degree in Sociology.

Heidhues is in Jakarta this month to receive the 2008 Nabil Award (on Nov. 15) -- an honor she says she is "flattered" to receive.

Given annually by the Nabil Foundation, which was established by Eddie Lembong in 2006, the award is bestowed upon exemplary individuals who have promoted the concept of nation-building in Indonesia through their work.

The award's first recipient (in 2007) was Claudine Salmon, a French researcher, whose long career examining Peranakan Chinese literature has significantly contributed to a clearer understanding of ethnic relations in Indonesia.

Beginning with her dissertation, Heidhues works have always reflected the concept of nation-building in Indonesia.

"While applying for my first visa to visit Indonesia", she says, "I mentioned nation-building was my research theme, because I wanted to examine the role of the Chinese in the Indonesian political arena."

Heidhues, who has been interested in foreign affairs since high school, started learning Mandarin at Trinity College in Washington, D.C., where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in History. She minored in Chinese and Economics.

Even though she was deeply interested in Chinese history, she realized that the tensions between the U.S. and communist China during the 1950s would not permit her to conduct any kind of field research in China.

When she came to Cornell to study government, Heidhues decided to focus on Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, where she learned there was a large number of ethnic Chinese.

Having made her decision to study the Chinese in Indonesia, she began learning Indonesian intensively and now has an excellent command of the language, along with German, French and Dutch.

Between 1961 and 1963, Heidhues conducted her field research in Indonesia; her language skills allowed her to interview 79 ethnic Chinese and 44 ethnic Indonesian leaders.

Through these extensive interviews, Heidhues was able to achieve rapport with influential leaders including Siauw Giok Tjhan, Lauw Chuan Tho (Junus Jahja), K. Sindhunata, Mohammad Hatta, Rosihan Anwar and Roeslan Abdulgani.

Following the completion of her dissertation, Heidhues returned to the U.S. and married Theodor Heidhues, a German pursuing a doctorate in Animal Breeding at Cornell.

Shortly after the wedding, she followed her husband to Germany.

"Getting adjusted to life in Germany in the following months was a real challenge -- new language, new culture," she recalled.

While her husband was building a career as a university professor, she was raising their children, two boys and a girl.

In 1978, however, Theodor passed away, leaving her with three teenagers.

Being a single mother did not prevent Heidhues from excelling in her career as a writer, researcher and lecturer on Southeast Asia's ethnic Chinese.

She has published her research in numerous international journals and scholarly collections. She is also authored several books, including, Southeast Asia: A Concise History, Golddiggers and Farmers and Traders in the 'Chinese Districts' of West Kalimantan.

Her interests in Indonesia's ethnic Chinese have brought her back to Indonesia many times over the years.

Speaking on her work and visits to Bangka and Kalimantan, Heidhues adds, "I tried to locate the Chinese in the local society, not just as offshoots of China, reduplicating their society in another environment. I still feel that is important."

However, while she appreciates the role of the Chinese in nation-building in Indonesia, Heidhues says "there are still problems with integration (as there are elsewhere) and I sympathize with those who have faced discrimination and violence (just as I am annoyed by those who are devious)."

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