William Augustus Collins is an anthropologist, scholar/teacher, development specialist and programme administrator. He was a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his MA in Southeast Asian Studies in 1967 and PhD in Anthropology in 1979. From the 1990s through the 2010s, he was involved in various educational and legal projects in southeast Asia, primarily in Cambodia, authoring papers and books in connection to those projects. His previous major roles include President of the Center for Advanced Study at Phnom Penh in Cambodia (1997-2000); Country Director for The Asia Foundation in East Timor (2002-2003); UNICEF educational consultant, based in the Ministry of Education in Cambodia (2004-2006); scholarship consultant for the World Bank (2005); UNICEF technical advisor to the Cambodian Education for All National Secretariat (2006-2007) and Academic Dean for Asia and the Pacific at World Learning, SIT Study Abroad (2008-2012).

The Preah Sihanouk Raj Academy was a non-political, problem oriented institution devoted to research and public debate on issues and problems affecting Cambodia.