Emeritus Professor Kevin Wheldall AM
Kevin Wheldall, AM is an Emeritus Professor of Macquarie University. Prior to his retirement, he served as Professor and Director of Macquarie University Special Education Centre (MUSEC) for over twenty years. Prior to this, he was Director of the Centre for Child Study at the University of Birmingham. He also served as the Associate Dean (Research) of the Australian Centre for Educational Studies of Macquarie University and has acted as an adviser to both state and federal government education bodies and ministers on matters relating to Special Education. This included acting as Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Special Education (MACSPED) in NSW.
A registered psychologist, Kevin is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, the British Psychological Society, the College of Preceptors (UK), the College of Educational and Child Psychologists and the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities. He has served as Honorary General Secretary of the British Psychological Society and as President of Learning Difficulties Australia (LDA). He was also Executive Editor of LDA Publications (including the editorship of the Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties and the LDA Bulletin), was the founding editor of the academic journal Educational Psychology which he edited for thirty years, and also edited Special Education Perspectives for the Australian Association of Special Education (NSW).
Kevin is the recipient of a Macquarie University Community Outreach Award for his work on literacy with socially disadvantaged groups and was subsequently inducted into the Macquarie University Innovators Hall of Fame for this work. He was awarded the Mona Tobias award of Learning Difficulties Australia (LDA) “in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the field of learning difficulties in Australia”, subsequently a Special Fiftieth Anniversary Award for services to LDA, and has also been presented with the Inaugural Award of the Australian Association for Special Education (New South Wales) “in recognition of an outstanding contribution to Special Education”.
Kevin is a Member (AM) in the Order of Australia since 2011 “for service to education as an academic and researcher, particularly in the areas of learning and behavioural difficulties, and through the design and implementation of innovative literacy programs”.
