Academic Promotion Mentors
The following list of mentors are available to provide guidance and support through the application process to academic staff who intend to submit an Academic Promotion application.
Promotions to Lecturer (Level B)
Promotions to Senior Lecturer (Level C)
Promotions to Associate Professor (Level D)
Promotions to Professor (Level E)
Promotions to Level B
Dr Rachel Morley
Lecturer, Communication, School of Humanities and Communication Arts.
Rachel Morley is a Lecturer in Communications and Writing in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts. Her research interests and areas of expertise include: literary and creative practice (with a particular interest in biography and autobiography); new media writing technologies; postgraduate pedagogy and academic literacies; theory and practice in qualitative research (including ethnographies of writing and representation); the politics and ethics of archival research; and social and cultural representations of surrogate motherhood. Rachel also has experience working with online archival databases (see the ARC-funded, 'The Visual Mediation of a Complex Narrative: TGH Strehlow's Journey to Horseshoe Bend', database.
She is Assistant Editor and Postgraduate Editor of Global Media Journal - Australian Edition and a member of the Writing and Society Research Group. She also co-hosts the TVS literary arts show Shelf Life on TVS (channel 44).
Promotions to Level C
Dr Rae Dufty-Jones
Senior Lecturer, Geography and Urban Studies, School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Rae Dufty-Jones is a Lecturer in Geography and Urban Studies. Before joining UWS in February 2010, Rae had previously worked at the University of New England (2008-2010) after completing her PhD at the University of New South Wales (2008). Her research interests include: governance and neoliberalism; migration and housing policy; urban development challenges and policies; the restructuring of horticultural industries in Australia; and ethnic diversity in Australian rural communities and issues of ‘racism’.
Dr Jane Durie
Senior Lecturer, Sociology and Criminology, School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Dr Tim Griffin
Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Dr Emilian Kavalski
Senior Lecturer, Global Studies, School of Humanities and Communication Arts.
Dr Emilian Kavalski received his doctoral training in international politics at Loughborough University (UK). He had previously gained an MA in English Philology at the University of Veliko Turnovo (Bulgaria) and an MA in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies at the University of Warwick (UK). He has held the Andrew Mellon Fellowship position at the American Institute for Indian Studies (New Delhi, India), the Killam Postdoctoral position at the Department of Political Science, University of Alberta (Canada), and research positions at Aalborg University (Denmark) and at the Institute for the International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr Universität-Bochum (Germany).
Dr Marina Nehme
Senior Lecturer, School of Law.
Dr Marina Nehme is a Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Western Sydney. She is a researcher in corporate and financial services law issues. She has completed a PhD on the use of enforceable undertakings by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Dr Paul Marshall
Senior Lecturer, Sport and Exercise Science, School of Science and Health.
Paul W.M. Marshall received his PhD in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Auckland in 2007. He was the clinical supervisor and later academic director of the University of Auckland Exercise Rehabilitation Clinic from 2004-2009. In 2010 he commenced work in the School of Science and Health at the University of Western Sydney, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2011. His main research interests are in the development of exercise programs for patients with chronic low back pain, and investigation of resistance exercise prescription techniques in advanced trainers.
Dr Awais Piracha
Senior Lecturer, Geography and Urban Studies, School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Dr Awais Piracha is a prominent Sydney-based researcher of sustainable urban and regional development and the use of spatial analysis/techniques in land use and transport planning. He has been working at UWS as a researcher and course coordinator for urban planning since February 2003. His international reputation follows his work with the United Nations University (UNU) in Tokyo, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Bangkok and University of Dortmund Germany. At UWS, Awais has been conducting research on the NSW planning reforms and their implications for planning education, natural and built environment and society at large. He is currently developing that research into an ARC grant application, and has assembled an eminent research team to that end. His work on transport policy and planning reveals the gaps between policy rhetoric and action, especially in regard to environmental sustainability. In his work for the Irrigation Futures CRC project he analysed change in land use over time and helped in preparing related inputs for hydrological and economic modelling. Dr Piracha has a valued depth of experience in the use of GIS and modelling tools for environmental planning, and is thus highly sought after for collaborative projects in Australia and throughout the world.
Dr Alphia Possamai-Inesedy
Senior Lecturer, Sociology and Criminology, School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Alphia Possamai-Inesedy was awarded her PhD in 2006 on the sociology of reproduction and the risk society at the University of Western Sydney. She has published on this topic and on sociology of religion. She is one of the editors of The Chameleon and the Quilt: A cross Disciplinary exploration in the Social Sciences published in 2005. In 2006, she co-organized a workshop sponsored by the Academy of Social sciences in Australia on 'Risking Motherhood in the 21st Century: the Politics of Maternity Care in a Risk Society'. This workshop resulted in the publication of a special issue of Health Sociology Review of which she was also a co-editor. Her current research interests involve the relationship between ‘risk society’ and reproductive issues such as prenatal diagnosis as well as research in the area of spirituality/religion and pregnancy and childbirth practices. She is currently a Lecturer at the University of Western Sydney lecturing in Introduction to Sociology, Self and Society and Sociology of Medicine.
Dr Emma Waterton
Senior Lecturer, Tourism and Heritage Studies, School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Promotions to Level D
Associate Professor Michael Blissenden
Associate Professor, School of Law.
Michael Blissenden has been involved with taxation for over 25 years. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from UNSW he spent 7 years in the Australian Tax Office, representing the Commissioner and assisting counsel with Federal Court matters. After completing his LLM at Sydney University he worked as a specialist taxation writer for the commercial publishers Butterworths and CCH. For the past 10 years he has been involved with the teaching taxation, firstly at ATAX UNSW and currently at the School of Law, UWS.
Associate Professor Carmel Coady
Associate Professor, Mathematics and Statistics, School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics.
I have been with the University of Western Sydney since 1989 and prior to that I was a secondary mathematics teacher in various New South Wales secondary schools.
My areas of expertise are in the learning and teaching of mathematics and statistics. I specialise in the teaching of these disciplines to first-year students.
Associate Professor Bronwyn Cole
Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education & Arts), Office of the iDVC (Education).
Bronwyn Cole is the Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) - Arts at UWS. Bronwyn has been Associate Head of the School of Education and Head of Primary Education Programs. She continues to teach, research and write about primary curriculum and pedagogy, particularly in the area of Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE K-6), teacher pedagogy and student engagement. She has been awarded a national Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation for her Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.
Bronwyn is a foundation member of the internationally recognised Fair Go Research Team at UWS, focusing on teacher pedagogy and the engagement of students in schools in low socio-economic areas. She is also well known for and committed to her work with Storypath curriculum and pedagogy, a pedagogical approach that is successful in engaging students and enhancing their academic and social outcomes. Her current research projects include comparative studies of the Storypath approach in classrooms in Australia and USA, an extensive study of teachers who 'make a difference' to students in poverty, and an investigation of first year standards and curricula for Social Sciences and Humanities. She has also worked on several significant consultant research projects focusing on teaching and learning.
Associate Professor Debbie Horsfall
Associate Professor, Peace and Development Studies, School of Social Sciences and Psychology.
Debbie is a passionate leader in the field of inclusive, democratic, qualitative research in health, human services and community development. Her transformative agenda privileges people’s voices during a myriad of challenging life events. This has led to her participation in numerous engaged research projects including work with: Cancer Council NSW; Multicultural Health; The Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care, Women’s Housing Services; and the Prime Ministers Youth Action Task Force. As a result of her extensive scholarly work in the area of creative, community development and practice based research she has served on several editorial boards, written, co-edited and contributed to over 50 publications including 4 scholarly research books, and is continually approached as a reviewer across disciplinary fields. Working with informal carers and service providers in end of life care her current research work explores how dying at home develops death literacy, health promoting palliative care, creative partnerships and compassionate communities. She is also researching socio-cultural influences on older Greek carer’s decisions in end of life care. In 2005 Debbie was awarded the Vice Chancellors Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Training and Supervision. She is a post graduate examiner at national and international levels and has successfully supervised over 34 research candidates.
Associate Professor Loshini Naidoo
Associate Professor, Academic Programs, School of Education.
Dr Naidoo is an established academic figure in the area of social justice education, not only within the Master of Teaching (Secondary) program and the School of Education but also in the international arena. Dr Naidoo plays a key role, through the student support programs Refugee Action Support and Crossing Borders, in ensuring a diverse student profile as well as increasing the participation rates of students from disadvantaged and mobile communities within the Greater Western Sydney region. By developing social and intellectual capital in response to the challenges of G. W. Sydney, Dr Naidoo has substantially increased her research profile in social and cultural diversity both nationally and internationally as well as her success at obtaining future external funding. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and books of both national and international repute, established international links with renowned scholars, obtained both internal and external research grants and has raised the profile of UWS by presenting at international conferences. She maintains a good working relationship with various stakeholders, particularly NSW DET, ALNF and CEO. In 2008, Dr Naidoo received the Vice-Chancellors Excellence Award for Community Engagement as well as a Highly Commended for Teaching with the College of Arts Dean's Award.
Associate Professor Anne Power
Associate Professor, Academic Programs, School of Education.
Anne Power is Academic Course Adviser for the Master of Teaching Secondary Program and a member of the Centre for Educational Research.Associate Professor Power is experienced with case study research. She has contributed case study expertise to research in relation to boys' education (DEEWR and DEC) and the engagement of students from low SES backgrounds (Teachers for a Fair Go). She is the editor of Musicworks,
Journal of the Australian National Council of Orff Schulwerk, associate editor of Issues in Educational Research, and on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Music Education and the Australian Journal of Music Education. She is Vice President of the Australian Music Education Society (NSW Chapter, formerly President), of the NSW Orff Schulwerk Association, and of the Institute for Education Research (NSW). She is also a Director of the Professional Teachers Council.
Associate Professor Tim Winter
Associate Professor, Institute for Culture and Society.
Associate Professor Tim Winter is a sociologist by training, and has previously held positions at the University of Sydney and the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. Tim’s research interests stem from a curiosity in the term ‘heritage’: how the concept is shaped epistemologically through certain knowledge practices; and how it figures in issues like nationalism, cultural diplomacy, post-conflict recovery, sustainability, postcolonial identities and urban development. Much of his work focuses on the developing economies of Asia, with projects currently being pursued in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Promotions to Level E
Professor Ian Anderson
Professor, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment.
Professor Ian Anderson is the Director of the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment. His research interests centre on the molecular ecology of soil microorganisms and he has particular interest in soil fungi, including those that form symbiotic mycorrhizal associations with the roots of plants. A significant portion of his current research is investigating the effect of atmospheric CO2 concentrations and climate change on the structure and activity of eucalypt forest soil microbial communities, with a view to understanding their potential role in increasing soil carbon sequestration. This research is primarily funded through a prestigious Life Sciences Research Award from the NSW Office for Science and Medical Research.
Ian is a key collaborator on the development of innovative approaches, based on fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) and laser microdissection microscopy, to determine the nature of the interaction between basidiomycete fungi and roots of Australian Ericaceae. This research is utilising a state-of-the-art PALM laser microdissection microscope facility established within the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment for microbial and plant sciences research. He continues to work closely with his former colleagues at both The James Hutton Institute (formerly The Macaulay Institute) and Aberdeen University in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Professor Hannah Dahlen
Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery
Hannah Dahlen is the Professor of Midwifery in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at UWS. She has been a midwife for 24 years and still practices. She is one of the first midwives in Australia to gain Eligibility and access to a Medicare provider number following government reforms in 2010.
Hannah has strong national and international research partnerships, has received 15 grants since 2000, including being CI on two NHMRC grants in 2011 and has had over 65 publications in the past seven years. She has spoken at over 100 national and international conference and given invited keynote addresses at half of these.
Hannah is the National Media Spokesperson for Australian College of Midwives and has been interviewed in print, radio and TV many times and featured in two documentaries. Hannah is a past President of the Australian College of Midwives and received Life Membership in 2008 for outstanding contributions to the profession of Midwifery.
In November 2012 she was named in the Sydney Morning Herald’s list of 100 “people who change our city for the better” A panelist on the selection panel for the special feature in the (Sydney) magazine described Hannah as “probably the leading force promoting natural birth and midwife-led care in Australia.” Hannah was named as one of the leading “science and knowledge thinkers” for 2012.
Professor Andrew Francis
Professor, School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics.
Professor Andrew Francis is an ARC Future Fellow who works on research problems relating bacterial evolution to algebraic structures. He joined UWS in the year 2000 as a Lecturer in Mathematics, after a post-doctoral position at the University of Virginia. His PhD and initial research interests were in the representation theory of finite groups, in particular the structure of Iwahori-Heck algebras, looked at from a combinatorial point of view. He began a parallel research programme in mathematical biology in 2002, and recently has begun bringing his two areas of expertise together by modelling evolution algebraically.
Professor Francis has held a number of governance posts, including being on Academic Senate 2007-2011. He chaired the Senate's Mathematics Expert Advisory Group in 2010 that reviewed issues relating to all levels of mathematics at UWS and made many recommendations. He is currently on the Council of the Australian Mathematical Society.
Professor Robert Lee
Professor, History and Political Thought, School of Humanities and Communication Arts.
Robert Lee was educated at Macquarie and Sydney Universities. He is Professor at the University of Western Sydney where he has taught history since 1979.
Professor Brett Neilson
Professor, Institute for Culture and Society.
Professor Brett Neilson's research and writing aims to provide alternative ways of conceiving globalisation, with particular emphasis upon its social and cultural dimensions. Drawing on cultural and social theory as well as on empirical and archival information, this research has derived original and provocative means for rethinking the significance of globalisation for a wide range of contemporary problems and predicaments, including the circulation of popular culture, the proliferation of borders, the ascendancy of global financial markets, the pressures of population ageing and the growing heterogeneity of labour. His writings have been translated into ten languages: Italian, French, German, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
He is currently working on the ARC Discovery project, Culture in Transition: Creative Labour and Social Mobilities in the Asian Century (opens in new window), with partner researchers from China, India and Italy.
Professor Greg Noble
Professor, Institute for Culture and Society.
Professor Greg Noble researches and writes in the intersecting areas of: youth, ethnicity and identity / multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism / material culture and technology / consumption and subjectivity / cultural analysis of education.
His current research includes being co-Chief Investigator on the ARC Linkage project, Cultural Practices and Learning (with the NSW Department of Education and Training as the project industry partner). This project examines the links between ethnicity, socio-cultural background and the embodied dispositions and education capital necessary for successful participation in the Australian educational system.
Professor Andrew Shalliker
Professor, School of Science and Health.
Andrew Shalliker is a Professor in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Western Sydney. He graduated from Deakin University with a BSc(Hons) (1987), a PhD (1992) and a DSc (2012). He has been employed in numerous positions, nationally and internationally. His first appointment was at David Bull Laboratories, then a small pharmaceutical company in Mulgrave Victoria (1992-1993). He was an Associate Lecturer in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Tasmania, (Hobart) (1994). In 1995 he was awarded a QUT Postdoctoral Fellowship (1995-1997). He was a Research Fellow at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, Oak Ridge in Tennessee (1997-1999). In 1999 he returned to Australia after accepting a Lectureship position at the University of Western Sydney. In 2013 he was promoted to the position of Professor. He heads a small research group that explores a variety of aspects associated with liquid chromatography. In particular, the research areas of interest are in the development of column technology, stationary phase design and the separation of complex samples using multidimensional approaches. He has approximately 110 publications and 6 patents.
