Advance HE is delighted to announce that Dr Maree O’Keefe, Associate Dean Learning Quality and Innovation, at the University of Adelaide, Australia, is its 1,000th HEA Principal Fellow.
Maree is a qualified paediatric medical specialist and holds a PhD in medical education. She is currently the deputy chair of the University Academic Board. In addition to her academic roles, through her work with the Office of Learning and Teaching and the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, she has provided national leadership in health professional education. She has held a range of appointments to national committees and councils as an expert in health profession education.
Maree continues her clinical practice as a paediatrician and has over 20 years’ experience of teaching and major curriculum innovation in health. Her research interests include interdisciplinary collaboration, interprofessional learning and developing quality experiential learning environments. She has highly developed skills in academic governance, strategic and operational planning within complex organisations, quality assurance, and stakeholder engagement.
Maree has won a number of institutional and national grants and awards for her teaching and health education research.
Commenting on her award, Maree said: “Achieving recognition as a Principal Fellow is a deeply satisfying and quite profound moment in my career. I have absolutely no doubt that I will be a better practitioner and leader in higher education as a result of becoming a Principal Fellow. This will be due in part to my personal journey of development, and in part due to the status of this recognition enabling further strategic impact within my institution, nationally and internationally.”
Alison Johns, CEO of Advance HE said, “Many congratulations to Maree on becoming our 1,000th HEA Principal Fellow. It’s great news both for her and Advance HE. Principal Fellowship is a fantastic accolade, showing a long-term commitment to professional development and, to quote the Professional Standards Framework on which Fellowship is based, a ‘sustained record of effective strategic leadership in academic practice’. I am delighted for her and for the University of Adelaide.”
There are now over 110,000 HEA Fellows and the number is growing every month, reflecting the commitment of individuals and institutions to ever improving teaching in higher education.
Find out more about Principal Fellowship.