Vale Tony Winefield 1937-2020
Obituary
With the death in March of Tony Winefield, Psychology has lost an effective advocate at state, national and international levels.
Tony was born in London just before WWII, then he and his parents moved to the countryside and he attended several different primary schools. Back in London at secondary school he developed a passion for sport, which became a life-long characteristic. He attended University College London and graduated with a PhD in Psychology, accepted a lecturing job at Uni Adelaide, and arrived in November 1962 having turned 25 on the boat. During his academic career - Senior Lecturer 1970, Associate Professor 1982, Foundation Professor of Psychology at University of South Australia from 1999, Emeritus from 2018 – Tony taught thousands of undergraduates and supervised and mentored scores of Psychology Honours and Masters students and 36 PhD candidates; many of his ex-students continue to remember him fondly.
During the same period he accumulated a very impressive track record as author of over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers in high-impact journals, a conference organiser and keynote presenter, and winner of numerous awards and honours as well as competitive research grants worth nearly .5m. These grants supported his research projects – principally into learned helplessness, the psychological effects of unemployment, and the causes and consequences of job stress; they also created employment opportunities for a long succession of research assistants many of whom went on to their own academic careers.
It was also during the same period that he served stints as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Head of Department of Psychology, at the University of Adelaide, was an active and long-standing member of the Staff Association and the National Tertiary Education Union, and campaigned for greater democracy in appointments of Heads of Department. In addition although not himself a practitioner in psychological services, he showed enduring commitment to the profession by his APS membership (since 1966), his roles as Chair and Deputy Chair of the SA Branch, and at the national level his Directorship of Training and Standards, his membership (1994-2010) of the SA Psychological Board, and of the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. In more recent years he was an active participant in the APS Interest Group Psychologists for Peace.
Thus Tony’s professional achievements were diverse across many arenas. In his leisure time apart from being a proud and involved parent and later grandparent, he played volleyball, in a special (“Australian rules”) form developed and promoted by himself; he set up a veteran’s (later Masters) soccer league for players over 35 which now has 18 teams, and he pursued his hobbies of playing the piano and regular games of bridge. Both within and beyond the world of Psychology to which he devoted his working life, he is being remembered as a person with a great sense of fun, compassion, and thirst for social justice.
Written by Emeritus Professor Helen Winefield with input from Professor Maureen Dollard.
With the death in March of Tony Winefield, Psychology has lost an effective advocate at state, national and international levels.
Tony was born in London just before WWII, then he and his parents moved to the countryside and he attended several different primary schools. Back in London at secondary school he developed a passion for sport, which became a life-long characteristic. He attended University College London and graduated with a PhD in Psychology, accepted a lecturing job at Uni Adelaide, and arrived in November 1962 having turned 25 on the boat. During his academic career - Senior Lecturer 1970, Associate Professor 1982, Foundation Professor of Psychology at University of South Australia from 1999, Emeritus from 2018 – Tony taught thousands of undergraduates and supervised and mentored scores of Psychology Honours and Masters students and 36 PhD candidates; many of his ex-students continue to remember him fondly.
During the same period he accumulated a very impressive track record as author of over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers in high-impact journals, a conference organiser and keynote presenter, and winner of numerous awards and honours as well as competitive research grants worth nearly .5m. These grants supported his research projects – principally into learned helplessness, the psychological effects of unemployment, and the causes and consequences of job stress; they also created employment opportunities for a long succession of research assistants many of whom went on to their own academic careers.
It was also during the same period that he served stints as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Head of Department of Psychology, at the University of Adelaide, was an active and long-standing member of the Staff Association and the National Tertiary Education Union, and campaigned for greater democracy in appointments of Heads of Department. In addition although not himself a practitioner in psychological services, he showed enduring commitment to the profession by his APS membership (since 1966), his roles as Chair and Deputy Chair of the SA Branch, and at the national level his Directorship of Training and Standards, his membership (1994-2010) of the SA Psychological Board, and of the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. In more recent years he was an active participant in the APS Interest Group Psychologists for Peace.
Thus Tony’s professional achievements were diverse across many arenas. In his leisure time apart from being a proud and involved parent and later grandparent, he played volleyball, in a special (“Australian rules”) form developed and promoted by himself; he set up a veteran’s (later Masters) soccer league for players over 35 which now has 18 teams, and he pursued his hobbies of playing the piano and regular games of bridge. Both within and beyond the world of Psychology to which he devoted his working life, he is being remembered as a person with a great sense of fun, compassion, and thirst for social justice.
Written by Emeritus Professor Helen Winefield with input from Professor Maureen Dollard.
Appointments
2019-2020 Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of South Australia
2003-2006 Director, Centre for Applied Psychological Research, University of South Australia
1999-2018 Foundation Professor of Psychology, University of South Australia
1982-1999 Reader/Associate Professor in Psychology, University of Adelaide
1970-1981 Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Adelaide
1962-1969 Lecturer in Psychology, University of Adelaide
2003-2006 Director, Centre for Applied Psychological Research, University of South Australia
1999-2018 Foundation Professor of Psychology, University of South Australia
1982-1999 Reader/Associate Professor in Psychology, University of Adelaide
1970-1981 Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Adelaide
1962-1969 Lecturer in Psychology, University of Adelaide
Awards
1992 Fellow, Australian Psychological Society
1993 University of Adelaide Postgraduate Students’ Association award for Supervisor of the Year
2003 Australian Psychological Society College of Organisational Psychologists Elton Mayo award for outstanding contributions to I/O research and teaching
2015 Stress and Anxiety Research Society Lifetime Career Award for “a long and distinguished history of scientific contribution to one or more of the following areas: stress, coping, emotions and health.”
1993 University of Adelaide Postgraduate Students’ Association award for Supervisor of the Year
2003 Australian Psychological Society College of Organisational Psychologists Elton Mayo award for outstanding contributions to I/O research and teaching
2015 Stress and Anxiety Research Society Lifetime Career Award for “a long and distinguished history of scientific contribution to one or more of the following areas: stress, coping, emotions and health.”