UQ sociologist Professor Mark Western
UQ sociologist Professor Mark Western
22 November 2011

University of Queensland sociologist Professor Mark Western has been rewarded for his outstanding research after receiving two prestigious accolades with the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) and the Australian Research Council (ARC).

Professor Western, who is also the Director of the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), was elected as a Fellow of the ASSA while also being appointed as a Research and Evaluation Committee Chair of the ARC’s Excellence in Research for Australia Initiative for 2012 (ERA2012).

The ASSA is Australia’s premier independent social science academy, and promotes the discipline’s research while recognising distinguished careers through the awarding of Fellowships.

Fellows are elected by their peers on the basis of scholarly distinction in their discipline, and Professor Western said he was delighted to receive the award.

“It is a great honour to be elected as an Academy Fellow for sociology. At the Institute for Social Science Research we are committed to carrying out high quality research that will help make a difference to people’s lives, and I am delighted that the Academy recognises the value of such work,” he said.

Professor Western's research areas include social inequality, political behaviour, educational inequality, families and households, and developments in quantitative methodology, especially longitudinal data analysis.

For the Australian Research Council’s ERA 2012, Professor Western will Chair the Research and Evaluation Committee (REC) for Education and Human Society.

Professor Margaret Sheil, Chief Executive Officer of the ARC, said Professor Western’s position is integral to the committee’s success.

“The REC Chairs have a central role in the ERA processes. They collectively bring considerable experience and ability which will ensure that ERA evaluations are of the highest standard,” she said.

Past REC Chairs’s have included distinguished and internationally-recognised researchers with expertise in research evaluation.

A brief biography for each Chair is available from the ERA 2012 Research Evaluation Committee Membership page.

Media Enquiries: Honor Morton, honor.morton@uq.edu.au