Bulletin

Issue: October 2006

Appointments

Chairs for psychology and public health researchers

Associate Professor in the School of Psychological Science, Dr Geoff Cumming – internationally recognised as a pioneer in the reform of statistical practices in psychology – has been appointed to a Personal Chair.

From left, Professors Cumming,
Wertheim and Liamputtong.

Professor Cumming’s work has been influential, especially in multidisciplinary areas, and he has journal publications with colleagues in artificial intelligence, computer science, conservation biology, education, linguistics, neuroscience, and philosophy, as well as statistics. A former Rhodes Scholar, Professor Cumming gained his DPhil at Oxford in 1971.

He joined La Trobe in the then Department of Psychology in 1974, and was Head of Department from 1989 to 1994.

His major interest has been the use of computers for learning, with a particular focus on statistics. His interactive graphical software, ESCI, is designed to support students’ learning and improve researchers’ understanding of basic statistical concepts.

Besides developing this software, he is conducting research in statistical cognition, which is the study of how people understand – or misunderstand – statistics.

Since 1977 Professor Cumming has received close to contINUous support from the ARC, or its predecessor the ARGS. His research has attracted funding of some $3million. He is also collaborating in a project in the Bushfire CRC, and another on the evaluation of Rationale, which is educational software to promote critical thinking.

Dr Eleanor Wertheim, who came to La Trobe in 1982, has been appointed to a Personal Chair in the School of Psychological Science, where she has been Associate Professor since 2000. Professor Wertheim is highly regarded as an international expert in the field of body image, eating disorders and dieting behaviours.

Her work has focused on uncovering the sociocultural and psychological factors which lead to eating disorder behaviours and on the treatment, prevention and assessment of such disorders.

She has carried out detailed and systematic investigations, and developed early intervention strategies for preventing dieting and body image disorders. Her contributions have been published in the leading journals in the field.

Professor Wertheim has also played a significant role in the field of peace and conflict resolution. For the past 12 years, she has been a core member of a small team of international scholars and practitioners for the UN Institute for Training and Research chosen to provide advanced training in conflict resolution to senior and midlevel UN staff and diplomats.

Professor Wertheim also is recognised for her work on the National Executive of Psychologists for Peace, an interest group of the Australian Psychological Society, and has served as National Convenor of the group.

In 2004 Professor Wertheim won the Australian Award for University Teaching (category 1) and the Australian Psychological Society (Directorate of Science) Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dr Pranee Liamputtong, Associate Professor in the School of Public Health since 2001, has been appointed to a Personal Chair in Public Health.

Since coming to La Trobe in 1992 as a Research Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Mothers’ and Children’s Health, she has held a number of senior positions within the University.

Professor Liamputtong’s research focuses on the health of ethnic communities in Australia.

A leading scholar in social and cultural diversity in public health, she is recognised internationally for her qualitative research and research on health care for women from cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Professor Liamputtong has developed and carried out a number of projects dealing with women’s health, and mothers’ and children’s health in non-English speaking background communities and among Australian women.

She has published extensively in anthropology and sociology of health, and is also recognised for developing culturally and gender sensitive approaches to research, as well as applying qualitative methods to research in the social and health sciences.

Professor Liamputtong has conducted training for the World Bank on qualitative research methods in public health for health workers in the Bank’s Health Promotion Program in China.

She acts as a reviewer for research grant applications for the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation and other major health bodies.