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• Emeritus Professor Linda Worrall appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia

Emeritus Professor Linda Worrall appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia

Speech Pathology Australia congratulates Emeritus Professor Linda Worrall on her appointment on the Queen’s Birthday as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division). Professor Worrall nomination was supported by Speech Pathology Australia and her selection is a fitting reward for her dedication and service to the speech pathology profession.

Professor Worrall is a (retired) Professor Emerita of Speech Pathology at The University of Queensland in Brisbane and is the past Chair of the Australian Aphasia Association. (Aphasia is the condition; actor Bruce Willis has recently publicly acknowledged he has.)

“Professor Worrall has an outstanding record of achievement and service to the Australian and international community through her work as a speech pathologist,” said Tim Kittel, National President of Speech Pathology Australia.

“Professor Worrall is an esteemed member of Speech Pathology Australia and the speech pathology profession, both in Australia and throughout the world. On behalf of Speech Pathology Australia, the Association congratulates Professor Worrall on her award as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division).”

Professor Worrall completed her undergraduate degree in speech pathology at The University of Queensland and then completed her PhD in the Stroke Research Unit in Nottingham, United Kingdom (UK). She has practiced as a speech pathologist both in Australia and the UK and founded the Australian Aphasia Association in 2000. She was also a founder of Aphasia United, an international peak organisation for aphasia.

Professor Worrall has over 300 peer reviewed articles, including 26 book chapters, and six books; graduated 27 PhD candidates and has had continuous nationally competitive research funding during her academic career. From 2009-2014, she led the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) funded Australia-wide Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Aphasia Rehabilitation.

Professor Worrall has a career total of 232 (152 ISI listed) publications and 1267 citations. She is therefore the highest ranked Australian aphasia researcher.

Professor Worrall’s expertise is often sought and has been recognised by invitations to deliver keynote or plenary addresses for 26 conferences outside Australia, in the United States of America (USA), Canada, UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Greece and The Netherlands. She has also presented numerous professional development workshops on behalf of the Association.
 
Professor Worrall joined Speech Pathology Australia (the Association) in 1987. In that time, she has received the following awards from the Association:

• 1995: Fellowship. (One of the highest public professional honours the Association awards to a member demonstrating outstanding, significant and sustained contribution to the speech pathology profession.)
• 1999: Elizabeth Usher (Inaugural) Memorial Lecture. (Delivered each year at the Association’s National Conference, the lecture was introduced in 1999 and is made possible from funds left to the Association by the late Elizabeth Usher, a prominent Queensland speech pathologist and an early pioneer of the profession in Australia.)
• 2014: Elinor Wray Award. (Granted for significant contribution to the profession of speech pathology for outstanding clinical contribution or contribution through completion of a specific project in the three years prior to nomination.)

Taken from Speech Pathology Australia