Hi everyone,
I am delighted to be here at the School of Psychology and
Newcastle University. I have been here now for almost 3 months and have started
to get my head around names, faces and acronyms. I’m still not yet used to the
mosquitos, but I guess that will come with time and liberal amounts of
Aerogard.
My undergraduate and postgraduate years were spent at a
university much like this one – the University of Wollongong. From there I took
up a position at the Australian National University and was there for almost 20
years. During this time I did spend postgraduate years in England, Finland and
Japan. These international positions developed my skills in neuroimaging in
that I was privileged to work in some of the best MEG (magnetoencephalography)
laboratories in the world. Unfortunately now-days I don’t get the chance to do
much MEG work, but I have been working lately in the area of road safety, which
satisfies my desire to be a part of research that is directly applicable to
people’s lives. This complements the research that I have done all my career on
understanding dyslexia and reading disorders.
Last night I found the university’s motto; “I look ahead”
which I found to be particularly prophetic as it captures very much my vision
for the school. My aim is to enable all staff and students to be the best that
they can be. To “look ahead” and focus on being great, to “look ahead” to shape
the future in educating others and contributing to research that shapes lives.
By working together we can look ahead to ensure that our
school takes its rightful place in some of the best psychology schools in the
world. I look forward to walking that path with every single one of you over
the next years, and I encourage you to tell me about is best about our school
and what we can be doing better. I am committed to an open door policy where
everyone is welcome to drop past for a chat, so I look forward to meeting you
all.
