Being granted fellowship of a learned academy is a measure of prestige that recognizes expertise and research quality. Fellows are elected by peers and work to advance scholarship and public interest in their respective academic areas.
Australian Academy of Law
Launched on 17 July 2007, the Australian Academy of Law is the fifth learned Academy in Australia and is the culmination of a process begun with the Australian Law Reform Commission?s landmark report
2021 Professor Elise Bant
Professor Elise Bant is a teacher and researcher of private law and commercial regulation at the UWA Law School. She is passionate about developing a more just system of private law, where ‘like’ cases are treated alike and on a principled basis. Her scholarship speaks to judges and legislators, regulators and the profession, who are at the front line in applying and developing the law.
- 2019 Prof Natalie Skead
- 2014 Prof Erika Techera
- tbc Prof William Ford
- tbc Prof Richard Bartlett
Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences
The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences purpose is to advance health and medical research in Australia and its translation into benefits for all, by fostering leadership within our sector, providing expert advice to decision makers, and engaging patients and the public.
2022 Professor Anna Nowak
Professor Anna Nowak is Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), having initially commenced in the role in an acting capacity in 2022. As DVCR, she is a member of the UWA Executive and has responsibility for research strategy and operations, strategic research institutes and facilities, and HDR students, across the University. Previously she was Pro Vice-Chancellor (Health and Medical Sciences) and prior to that, Associate Dean (Research) and Deputy Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences.
As a UWA Clinical Academic since 2005, she was a Medical Oncologist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) and Professor within the School of Medicine. She was Director of the National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases (NCARD) at UWA, Chair of the national Cooperative Group in NeuroOncology (COGNO).
2022 Professor Aleksandra Filipovska
Professor Aleksandra Filipovska is internationally renowned for her pioneering work in mitochondrial genomics and disease. She is Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Synthetic Biology and NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. As co-director at the Mito Foundation, Professor Filipovska plays a key role in advocating for the mitochondrial disease community and mitochondrial donation.
Professor Filipovska has developed new technologies that have re-defined the mitochondrial transcriptome, its regulation, and diagnosis of patients with mitochondrial and metabolic diseases. She has licensed her genome-editing technology, which is currently used for clinical trials of neurodegenerative diseases internationally.
- 2021 Pat Dudgeon
- 2021 Andrew Whitehouse
- 2020 Alistair Forrest
- 2020 Ian Constable
- 2018 Bruce Robinson
- 2017 Carol Bower
- 2017 Karen Simmer
- 2017 Stephen Zubrick
- 2016 Graeme Hankey
- 2016 Christobel Saunders
- 2015 Donna Cross
- 2015 Wendy Erber
- 2015 Peter Klinken
- 2015 Nigel Laing
- 2015 Peter Leedman
- 2015 David Mackey
- 2015 Barry Marshall
- 2015 Susan Prescott
- 2015 Stephen Stick
- 2015 Fiona Stanley
- 2015 Steve Webb
- 2015 Fiona Wood
Australian Academy of the Humanities
The Australian Academy of the Humanities is the national body for the humanities in Australia, championing the contribution humanities, arts and culture make to national life. Our work aims to ensure ethical, historical and cultural perspectives inform discussions regarding Australia?s future challenges and opportunities.
Fellows
2022 Professor Tony Hughes d'Aeth
Tony Hughes-d'Aeth is the Chair of Australian Literature at the University of Western Australia and the Director of the Westerly Centre. His research has a particular focus on literature and the environment. His book Like Nothing on this Earth: A Literary History of the Wheatbelt (UWA Publishing, 2018) won the Walter McRae Russell Prize for best work of Australian literary criticism in 2019. His first book Paper Nation: The Story of the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia, 1886-1888 (Melbourne UP, 2001), won the Ernest Scott and WK Hancock prizes for Australia history.
- 2020 Dr Sarah Collins
- 2020 Prof Jo McDonald
- 2020 Prof Tim Winter
- 2018 Prof Jane Balme
- 2014 Prof Jane Lydon
- 2013 Prof Yasmin Haskell
- 2012 E/Prof Philip Mead
- 2012 Professor Susan Broomhall
- 2012 Prof Terri-ann White
- 2008 E/Prof Gareth Griffiths
- 2007 Prof Krishna Sen
- 2006 A/Prof John Kinder
- 2005 Prof Peter Veth
- 2000 Prof Stewart Candlish
- 1996 Prof Lorenzo Polizzotto
- 1995 Prof David Kennedy
- 1994 E/Prof John Melville-Jones
- 1993 Mr Jeremy Green
- 1991 Prof Robert White
- 1980 E/Prof John Scott
- 1979 E/Prof David Tunley
Awards
The Academy is the national body for the humanities in Australia, championing the contribution humanities, arts and culture make to national life.
McCredie Musicological Award
The award celebrates the outstanding career of Andrew McCredie AM FAHA (1930?2006) Emeritus Professor of Musicology at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, and Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He was an eminent musicologist, who greatly influenced the teaching of music in Australian universities and schools.
2019 Dr Sarah Collins
Dr Collins is a senior lecturer of Musicology at the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music. Her research focuses on the intersection between political, aesthetic and ethical concerns in music literature of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
Crawford Medal
The Max Crawford Medal is Australia?s most prestigious award for achievement and promise in the humanities. It is presented to an early career scholar for outstanding achievement in the humanities, whose research and publications make an exceptional contribution to the understanding of their discipline by the general public.
1993 Professor Hilary Fraser FAHA
Australian Academy of The Social Sciences in Australia
The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, interdisciplinary body of elected Fellows. Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences (FASSA) is an honour conferred for scholarly distinction in research or the advancement of social sciences.
The Academy has also made provision for the nomination of Honorary Fellows to the Academy aimed at honoring individuals who are recognized for their exemplary achievements but not necessarily in academia.
2021 Emeritus Professor Lyn Parker
Lyn Parker is a sociocultural anthropologist and researcher specialising in contemporary Indonesian culture and society, environmental problems and gender issues at the UWA School of Social Sciences. Her main research interests are the anthropology of Indonesia, women and gender relations, education and the environment.
Her interest in Indonesia flourished during her high school years when she enrolled in an Indonesian language class, the first Indonesian class taught in schools in New South Wales. She acknowledges that if Hindu, Urdu or Sanskrit had been offered, her career could have taken a different trajectory, studying and researching in India. Lyn did not foresee that she would combine her love for the Indonesian language with the culture and become an anthropologist, until she had finished her honours year at Australian National University (ANU). Following her tertiary education, Lyn conducted doctoral fieldwork in east Bali in 1980–81, studying the integration of a pre-colonial kingdom into the Indonesian nation-state. This was when she became interested in education and its role in citizen creation.
- 2020 Prof Matthew Tonts
- 2019 Prof Rod Tyers
- 2017 Prof Michael Blakeney
- 2017 E/Prof Victoria Burbank
- 2017 Prof Cristina Gibson
- 2017 Prof Stephen Zubrick
- 2015 Prof Jakob Madsen
- 2015 Prof Geoff Soutar
- 2014 Prof Sharon Parker
- 2013 Prof Gill Rhodes
- 2012 Prof David Pannell
- 2010 Prof Thomas O'Donoghue
- 2006 Prof Darrell Turkington
- 2004 E/Prof Izan Izan
- 2002 Prof David Badcock
- 2002 Prof Colin MacLeod
- 2000 E/Prof Laksiri Jayasuriya
- 1998 Prof Kenneth Clements
- 1996 Prof Fiona Stanley
- 1993 E/Prof Norman Etherington
- 1990 Prof David Andrich
- 1988 Prof Robert Tonkinson
- 1976 E/Prof Philip Brown
- 1967 E/Prof Reg Appleyard
Australian Academy of Science
The Australian Academy of Science champions, celebrates and supports excellence in Australian science, promotes international scientific engagement, builds public awareness and understanding of science and provides independent, authoritative and influential scientific advice.
Fellows
Three top science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) researchers from The University of Western Australia have been elected as 2020 Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science. They make up the total number of scientists representing WA from 24 Australians elected as Fellows this year.
Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science are among the nation’s most distinguished scientists, elected by their peers for groundbreaking research and contributions that have had substantial impact to advance knowledge.
2020 Professor Ryan Lister
Ryan Lister is a genome biologist who has made major advances in our understanding of the epigenome, the molecular code superimposed upon the genome that can regulate the readout of the underlying genetic information. Through landmark technology development and biological investigations, Ryan’s discoveries have provided major advances in our understanding of the epigenome in plants, animals, human stem cells, development, and the brain. His work is driving advances that will provide benefits to agriculture, human health and medicine. Overall, he has made major scientific contributions through his pioneering scientific research, and his leadership and promotion of Australian science.
2020 Professor Harvey Millar
Andrew Millar has discovered key biochemical mechanisms through which plant respiration is adapted to cellular processes and harsh climates. He has identified how damage by lipid, oxygen and nitrogen radicals lower the efficiency of respiration. He has discovered how vitamin production is linked to respiration and how mitochondria signal their metabolic state to change plant defence gene expression. Millar has shown that the mitochondrial proteome response to plant stress involves specific and sequential changes in protein complex assembly, regulation of enzymes and selective chemical damage. His discoveries underpin our understanding of respiratory damage during plant cell ageing and disease.
2020 Professor Robyn Owens
Robyn Owens has an exceptional research track record in computational vision science, having developed ground-breaking fundamental theory in feature detection and object recognition, and applying these theories across many disciplines, from biomedical science through to face recognition. Her pioneering work has been acknowledged by award of the prestigious UK Rank Prize in 2010 in Nutrition and Optoelectronics. Owens has an outstanding and sustained track record in research training and research policy development in the Australian Higher Education sector, including several national collaborative research infrastructure capabilities, and in promoting women in science and STEM education.
- 2018 E/Prof David Blair
- 2015 Prof Jenefer Blackwell
- 2015 Prof Ian Small
- 2013 Prof Hans Lambers
- 2013 Prof Stephen Powles
- 2013 Prof Michael Tobar
- 2009 Prof Leigh Simmons
- 2006 Prof Lorenzo Faraone
- 2004 Prof Richard Hobbs
- 2004 Prof Malcolm McCulloch
- 2003 E/Prof David Groves
- 2002 Prof Fiona Stanley
- 2000 Prof Adrian Baddeley
- 2000 Prof Mark Randolph
- 1999 Prof Barry Marshall
- 1998 Prof James Williams
- 1996 Prof Cheryl Praeger
- 1993 Prof Jorg Imberger
- 1980 E/Prof John Pate
Awards
Central to the purpose of the Academy is the recognition and support of outstanding contributions to the advancement of science.
Honorific Awards
Central to the purpose of the Academy is the recognition and support of outstanding contributions to the advancement of science. The honorific awards were established to recognise distinguished research in three categories: awards of medals and prizes are made to early-career scientists up to 10 years post PhD, mid-career scientists 8 to 15 years post PhD, and the prestigious career awards which are made to scientists for life-long achievement.
Academy Medal
The Academy Medal recognises outstanding contributions to science by means other than through scientific research. It is awarded to a person outside the Fellowship who has, by sustained efforts in the public domain, significantly advanced the cause of science and technology in Australia or who has made a substantial contribution to the Academy.
Career Award
Thomas Ranken Lyle Medal for research in mathematics or physics
2013 Professor Cheryl Elisabeth Praeger AM FAA
Mathematics and Statistics
Professor Cheryl Praeger has transformed our understanding of groups acting on large systems, producing new theories, algorithms and designs that have advanced every field that exploits the symmetry of large systems. Her research has led to significant new directions taken up by mathematicians internationally. Her algorithms have enhanced powerful computer algebra systems which have transformed research and teaching of algebra.
Mawson Medal and Lecture
2008 Professor Peter Cawood
Professor of Geology, Tectonics Special Research Centre, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Peter Cawood is an international leader in the application of structural geology, tectonic processes and geochronology, and has contributed greatly to our understanding of the development of the continental lithosphere throughout geological time. His research is concerned with the integration of field-based studies of mountain belts and their bounding cratons with the development and application of tectonic models.
Academy Medal
1990 The Hon Robert (Bob) Hawke
School of Law
UWA awarded Dr Hawke a Bachelor of Laws in 1951 and a Bachelor of Arts in 1955. He served as UWA Guild President in 1952 and the State’s Rhodes Scholar in 1953. Upon his election as Prime Minister, the University also honoured him with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters in 1984.
Premier awards
Ruby Payne-Scott Medal and Lecture
2021 Professor Cheryl Elisabeth Praeger AM FAA
Mathematics and Statistics
Professor Cheryl Praeger’s work on the mathematics of symmetry has been in the vanguard of a mathematical revolution caused by the classification of the finite simple groups, the atoms of symmetry from which all finite groups are built. She has elucidated the internal structure of these simple groups, and driven research on applying their immensely powerful classification to study symmetric structures.
Professor Praeger has developed a theory of quasiprimitive groups which, via her innovative ‘normal quotient method’, established a new paradigm for working with symmetric graphs and exploited the simple group classification.
Professor Praeger demonstrates an extraordinary ability to foster and inspire others, supporting women, advocating for mathematics in schools, and promoting mathematics in emerging economies.
Mid-career awards
Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science
2019 Professor Jacqueline Batley
School of Biological Sciences
Professor Batley has made major contributions to our understanding of the genetics and genomics of crops including canola (Brassica napus), a major source of edible oil. Her DNA markers have been critically important in the mapping and sequencing of genomes of canola, related Brassicas such as turnip and cabbage, and other crops including wheat, peas and lentils. In addition, she has developed new ways of looking at how pathogens interact genetically with crop plants. In these ways she has played a key role in pioneering biotechnological methods that are now being exploited by plant breeders worldwide. Examples of some successful commercial applications in canola include improvements in oil quality, reduced shattering of seed pods, and breeding for increased resistance to blackleg fungus infection. Her motivation to improve world food security and rural economies is being rewarded through such applications.
Jacques Miller Medal for experimental biomedicine
2018 Killugudi Swaminathan Iyer
School of Molecular Sciences
Professor Swaminathan Iyer in the School of Molecular Sciences at the University of Western Australia, leads an internationally recognised research program in the field of bionanotechnology. His transdisciplinary research program focuses on integrating fundamental concepts of cell and molecular biology with bioengineering to develop innovative nanoformulations that are designed for the treatment of currently untreatable medical emergencies like traumatic brain injuries, cardiovascular diseases, placental disorders in pregnancy and cancers (breast, cervical, colorectal). The nanoformulations developed by Iyer?s research group are able to track the localisation of the drug and pathological process simultaneously during treatment: a single procedure potentially leads to both diagnosis and therapy in one hit. The ultimate goal of his research is to enable an overall increase in quality and length of life for patients, through informed decisions about timing, dosage, drug choice, and treatment strategies for personalised medicine, with improved efficacy and lower off-target toxicity.
Early-career awards
John Booker Medal
2020 Asst Professor Britta Bienen
Oceans Graduate School
Associate Professor Britta Bienen’s world-leading research delivers innovative foundation solutions for the complex challenges associated with offshore oil and gas and renewable energy infrastructure. Through the development of practical predictive methods for soil-structure interaction problems, grounded in sound geotechnical science, her internationally recognised expertise translates scientific findings to significant impact in industry.
Her major achievements include developing models that encapsulate foundation response in a way that is compatible with structural engineering and can be integrated into analysis software used by the majority of offshore engineers. This is critical for robust, reliable and cost-effective design of infrastructure one which the global energy supply depends. Her award-winning research on jack-up footing extraction has had marked impact in industry, enhancing safety of personnel and assets. Her contributions to this field are of major significance, have been incorporated in international industry guidelines and are of direct benefit to geotechnical practice in Australia and worldwide.
Le Févre Medal
2018 Asst/Prof Amir Karton
School of Molecular Sciences
Associate Professor Amir Karton leads the computational chemistry group at the University of Western Australia. He currently holds a prestigious Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. His research interests are focused on the development of quantum chemical theory for the calculation of highly accurate chemical properties and the application of these procedures to problems of chemical structure, mechanism, and design. Amir?s computational chemistry group is working closely with internationally leading experimental groups in order to tackle challenging chemical problems that span several disciplines, ranging from biochemistry to nano-chemistry. These include the computational design of graphene-based functional materials, elucidating the mechanisms by which enzymes catalyse molecular transformations, and simulations of atmospherically relevant chemical reactions.
Amir obtained his PhD in computational chemistry in 2010 with Prof. Jan Martin at the Weizmann Institute of Science and then continued to a postdoctoral period with Prof. Leo Radom at the University of Sydney. In addition to the Le Fevre Medal, he received the Vice-Chancellor?s Early Career Investigators Award (2016) and the Outstanding Young Investigator Award (2013) from UWA.
Ruth Stephens Gani Medal for distinguished research in human genetics
2014 Winthrop Prof Ryan Lister
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Professor Ryan Lister studies the epigenome, the millions of molecular signposts added to the genome to regulate the activity of the underlying genetic information. His development of key techniques to map the epigenome has enabled major advances in our understanding of its role in gene regulation in both plants and animals. Professor Lister’s investigation into epigenome dynamics during mammalian brain development has provided the first comprehensive maps of epigenome dynamics through mammalian brain development, in both humans and mice. His discoveries provide an essential foundation to understanding the role of the epigenome in mammalian gene regulation and brain development.
Fenner Medal for distinguished research in biology (excluding the biomedical sciences)
2012 Prof A Harvey Millar
ARC Australian Professorial Fellow and Winthrop Professor
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology
School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Science
Professor Harvey Millar’s research focuses on energy production in plants and how the process of respiration is affected by harsh climates. His work has shown how respiration can be protected in plant cells during environmental stress, how production of the antioxidant vitamin C is controlled in plants, and how the complex links between respiration and plant growth can alter plant yields. His discoveries underpin our understanding of respiratory damage in cell ageing and disease, relevant to both plants and animals.
Anton Hales Medal for research in the earth sciences
2010 Prof David White
Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems
David White has developed models for the behaviour of the weak and mobile seabed sediments on which the pipelines and infrastructure required to develop Australia’s oil and gas resources must be built. He has led the design and deployment of new instruments to characterise the shifting sands and liquefiable muds found offshore Australia, and his design methods for pipelines and foundations have been rapidly adopted by industry.
Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering
The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering is a Fellowship organisation, comprising men and women elected on the basis of their expertise and experience.
2020 Professor Liang Cheng
Professor Liang Cheng is a civil engineer whose research has significantly impacted industry practice, to ensure offshore pipelines and cables are designed and constructed with smaller environmental footprints.
He is an international authority on how water, seabeds and human-built structures interact. He has applied his expertise to help industry more effectively design and maintain a range of marine structures.
Professor Cheng has supported oil, gas and renewables companies to build key offshore infrastructure with less damage to the marine ecosystem.
He leads a productive research team on offshore fluid mechanics in Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering at the University of Western Australia.
- 2019 Professor Melinda Hodkiewicz
- 2018 Prof Wallace Cowling
- 2018 Prof Eric May
- 2018 Prof Phillip Watson
- 2015 Prof David White
- 2013 Prof Peter Quinn
- 2012 Prof Robyn Owens
- 2010 Prof Alison Ord
- 2009 E/Prof Mark Bush
- 2009 Prof Lyn Beazley
- 2008 Prof Mark Cassidy
- 2008 Prof Michael Tobar
- 2006 Prof Bruce Hobbs
- 2005 Prof Kadambot Siddique
- 2004 Prof Lorenzo Faraone
- 2004 Prof Dongke Zhang
- 2001 Prof Ian Constable
- 1998 Prof Stephen Powles
- 1993 Prof Mark Randolph
- 1992 Prof Antonio Cantoni
- 1992 Prof Neil Turner
- 1987 Prof Alan Robson
- 1985 Prof Jorg Imberger
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies is a world-renowned research, collections and publishing organisation. We promote knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, traditions, languages and stories, past and present.
2005 Professor Alan Dench
Professor Alan Dench was educated at the University of Western Australia and at the Australian National University. His main research interest is the grammatical description and historical reconstruction and comparison of Australian Aboriginal languages, especially those of Western Australia. He has published grammars of three languages of the Pilbara - Panyjima, Martuthunira and Yingkarta - and is writing a description of Nyamal. He has also collected materials in Kurrama and Yinhawangka, and has worked on aspects of Noongar.
He has at different times served as the Head of Linguistics, Head of the School of Humanities, and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts at UWA. He is currently Dean of Graduate Research and Postdoctoral Training at UWA. He is a member of the Executive of the Council of Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies, Australia (DDoGS) and chairs the Go8 Deans of Graduate Studies.
- 2001 Aspro Violet Bacon
- 1998 Prof Jane Balme
- 1998 Aspro Richard Davis
- 1998 Prof Sandy Toussaint
- 1992 Prof Jill Milroy
- 1992 Prof Peter Veth
- 1990 Dr John Henderson
- 1978 E/Prof Sandra Bowdler
- 1965 Prof Robert Tonkinson
