He taught at Cornell until his retirement in 2002, when he became a professor emeritus of International Studies. After his retirement, he spent most of his time traveling throughout South East Asia. Anderson died in Batu, Malang, Indonesia, in his sleep on December 13, 2015. According to close friend Tariq Ali, Anderson died of heart failure. He had been in the middle of translating his memoir, "A Life Beyond Boundaries," from Japanese to English, and was survived by two adopted sons of Indonesian origin.