Our President - Professor Barbara A Wilson, OBE, CPsychol, ScD., FBPsS, FMedSci,
AcSS
Professor Barbara Wilson, OBE agreed
to become the Society’s first President in 2007 and her Presidential Inauguration
took place in London on 17th October 2007.
The Society is delighted to welcome such a prestigious, respected and warm person
as Professor Wilson.
Barbara has been married to Mick for 45 years and had 3 children soon after marrying
- Sarah born 1963, Anna born 1964 and Matthew born 1966. Sarah died in Peru in 2000
in a white water rafting accident. Her body was never found. Barbara and her husband
wrote a book about their experiences of coping with bereavement called "First
Year, Worst Year: Coping with the unexpected death of a grown up daughter"
(by Barbara & Michael Wilson published by Wiley in 2004 and easily available
on Amazon). Barbara’s surviving daughter, Anna, is a clinical psychologist
and works at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. She has two daughters Rosie
who is 20 and Francesca who is 12. Barbara’s son, Matthew, married a Chilean
winemaker and lives in Chile in the Colchagua Valley. He is a photographer specialising
in wine and food (www.mattwilson.cl) He has 2 sons, Samuel who was born in 2005
and Max who was born in 2007.
Barbara has also recently started running
Marathons, training in 8 different countries and here is Barbara training in New
Zealand.
Barbara qualified as a clinical psychologist in 1977. Since 1979 she worked in Brain
Injury Rehabilitation, first at Rivermead Rehabilitation Centre in Oxford, then
at Charing Cross Hospital, London and at The University of Southampton Medical School.
Since 1990, Barbara has been employed as a senior scientist by The Medical Research
Council’s Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge. In 1996, she established,
and is the Director of Research at, The Oliver Zangwill Centre for Neuropsychological
Rehabilitation in Ely - a partnership between the local NHS Trust and The Medical
Research Council. Barbara is also a visiting Professor of Rehabilitation Studies
at the University of Southampton.
Over the years Barbara has held several grants to look at new assessment and treatment
procedures for people with non-progressive brain injury, and has published 16 books,
8 widely used neuropsychological tests and over 260 journal articles and chapters
mostly on rehabilitation. Barbara is also the editor-in-chief of the journal Neuropsychological
Rehabilitation (established in 1991).
Barbara sits on several national committees and has been on the governing board
of The International Neuropsychological Society and until February 2007, she was
their president.
Barbara is chair of the World Federation of Neuro Rehabilitation’s (WFNR)
Special Interest Group in Neuropsychological rehabilitation and is also on the management
committee of the WFNR .
Barbara lectures throughout the world particularly in Europe, North and South America,
Australia and Hong Kong.
In 1984 she was awarded The May Davidson award for outstanding contributions to
Clinical Psychology within 10 years of qualification.
In 1998 Barbara was awarded an O.B.E. in the Queen’s New Years Honours List
for services to medical rehabilitation.
In 2000 she was awarded a distinguished scientist award from the British Psychological
Society.
In 2002 The Encephalitis Society awarded her “Professional of the Year”
and in 2003 she won The British Psychological Society’s annual book of the
year award for her book “Case Studies in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation”.
In 2004 Barbara received an honorary doctorate from The University of East Anglia
and in 2006 she was awarded the Robert L Moody prize from the University of Texas
for contributions to rehabilitation.
A new rehabilitation centre in Quito, Ecuador is named after her.
Professor Wilson is a Fellow of The British Psychological Society, The Academy of
Medical Sciences and The Academy of Social Sciences.
Barbara recently retired but still gives many talks and workshops around the world
and still continues to write papers, chapters and books.
Last modified: 17 October 2008