Congratulations to leading road safety advocate, Professor Ann Williamson, Director, Transport and Road Safety (TARS) Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, who was presented with the prestigious 2016 ACRS Fellowship at last night’s glittering ACRS Award Ceremony at Australia’s Parliament House. The ceremony took place in front of 550 of Australasia’s foremost road safety professionals and advocates, and is deserved recognition of Professor Williamson’s profound commitment to the reduction of road trauma.
The award was presented by Hon Darren Chester, Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, and ACRS President Mr Lauchlan McIntosh AM, during the 2016 Australasian Road Safety Conference (ARSC2016).
Hon Darren Chester MP (Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport)
In detailing the award, ACRS President Mr Lauchlan McIntosh AM, said “Professor Williamson continues to be an outstanding advocate for road safety both in our region and internationally.
“Professor Williamson has contributed enormously to excellence in road safety research and to providing a strong evidence base for effective road safety interventions. Her dedication to developing and sharing road safety knowledge has been shown through her tireless efforts to work collaboratively in the field with various injury prevention and accident research centres and researchers who work in the field of road safety”.
Professor Williamson was the founding Director of the Injury Risk Management Research Centre and the Transport and Road Safety Research Centre and is Australia’s leading expert on driver fatigue and heavy vehicle safety.
Professor Williamson’s personal commitment has seen her contribute her own time to various road safety and injury prevention committees and to State and Federal Parliamentary road safety inquiries. She regularly engages with media on a range of road safety topics as an independent expert voice to help reduce road trauma. Professor Williamson has also contributed greatly to the development of the field through teaching, including PhD supervision.
“It is an honour to be awarded the ACRS Fellowship and I look forward to continuing to support the great work of the College as we aim to halve road deaths and injuries by 2020”, Professor Williamson said.
With the 2016 award, Professor Williamson joins an elite group of eminent road safety professionals who have all been bestowed the honour of an ACRS Fellowship. The College first instituted the award of Fellow in 1991 to enable colleagues to nominate a person recognised by their peers as outstanding in terms of their contributions to road safety.