Top honour for senior academic

18 December 2003

President of the Academic Board at UNSW, Professor Kevin McConkey, has won the American Psychological Association's award for distinguished contributions to scientific hypnosis.

"I'm delighted to receive this recognition of scientific research into the phenomena and processes of hypnosis," Professor McConkey said. "Australian psychology has a strong tradition of contributing to theoretical understanding of hypnosis, and this is an important recognition of that work by the American Psychological Association."

Kevin McConkey is a Professor of Psychology and has served as President of the Academic Board since 1999. He has held academic positions in Canada and the USA as well as Australia and is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society and the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. His specific research interests are hypnosis, memory, and ethics. Publications include more than 100 journal articles and seven books.

Professor McConkey has served as Vice-President of the Federation of Scientific and Technological Societies, President of the Australian Psychological Society, and Chair of the National Committee for Psychology, Australian Academy of Science.

The award will be formally presented at the American Psychological Association conference to be held in August next year in Hawaii, where Professor McConkey will give a keynote address.