Professorial Lecture Series

Register to attend and hear our newest professors speak about their impactful work being undertaken in teaching, research and service. There will be two hybrid events in 2024 at our Brisbane and Melbourne campuses.

The Professorial Lecture Series is now in its second year, arising from the review of the Academic Promotions Policy and Procedures. The series is designed to provide our university community with an opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge those promoted to the role of Professor. 

This year, there will be two events hosted by Provost Professor Julie Cogin that celebrate the successful promotions of our colleagues in the 2023 Academic Promotions.

Our first hybrid event will be held at the ACU Brisbane Campus and celebrate the success of Professor Laura Miller and Professor Gert-Jan Pepping, both from the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Join us to hear our newest professors speak about their impactful work being undertaken in teaching, research and service, with the opportunity to ask each presenter questions.

All staff are welcome and encouraged to attend these events either in person or online via MS Teams.

Brisbane guest presenters

Professor Laura Miller

Professor Miller will provide insights and present ‘ENVISAGE. Enabling Visions and Growing Expectations. Empowering parents and caregivers raising children with disability and developmental concerns’.

ENVISAGE takes a strengths-based, future-focused approach to disability support with four flagship programs. In Australia, ENVISAGE has been federally funded through the Department of Social Services and has partnered with over 25 industry partners across all states and territories to ensure families raising children with developmental concerns or disability are empowered and feel confident and capable in their parenting experience.

As an occupational therapist with over 25 years clinical and research experience, Professor Miller is passionate about empowering individuals, families and communities in their health and wellbeing. Her research priorities focus on co-design and parent engagement, caregiver wellbeing, participation, community connection and culturally responsive practice.

Professor Miller was recognised and part of the teams which received the 2020 Vice-Chancellor’s Excellence Award in both the Spirit of Reconciliation Excellence and Excellence in Community Engagement categories, and again in 2023 for the Excellence in Research and Research Partnerships for the ENVISAGE project.

Professor Gert-Jan Pepping

Professor Gert-Jan Pepping will provide insights and present ‘An ecological approach to person-environment fit. Optimising affordances for performance, health and ageing using technology, and the environment’.

Professor Pepping’s work holds relevance across multi-faceted settings, and he collaborates with national and international universities and industry partners on topics spanning architectural design, crowd-surveillance, defence capabilities, talent, and sports technology.

As a movement scientist with more than 25 years research experience, Professor Pepping’s scholarly activities delve into the intricate and dynamic interplay between human movement, environmental factors, and perceptual-cognitive processes within the contexts of human performance and ageing.

He has received research funding from local and national bodies. Currently serving as a Chief Investigator on the NHMRC-Ideas funded GrandSchools project, Professor Pepping is part of a collaborative effort involving partner institutes from academia and industry, focusing on secondary education and senior living.

Lecture series details

Event 1 - Brisbane
Thursday 2 May, 11.30am. Morning tea will be offered from 11am.

Hybrid locations:
In person: ACU Brisbane campus. Gaudete Centre, Level 3, Mercy Building. 
Virtually: via MS Teams

Register to attend

When you register, you will receive a registration confirmation. If you registered to attend virtually, the registration confirmation will contain the MS Teams link to join.

Event 2 - Melbourne

The second hybrid event will be held on the ACU Melbourne campus on Wednesday 5 June.Details will be shared closer to this time, informing you of the time and location.