The Personal Journey of Helen MacGillivray: A Webinar by the Early Career & Student Statisticians Network and History Standing Committee of SSA, in collaboration with the Queensland Branch

This webinar is part of a series highlighting the personal journeys of influential Australian statisticians who have shaped the discipline and inspired generations.

Professor Helen MacGillivray AM will share stories from her extraordinary career in statistics education—spanning more than 40 years of university teaching and leadership roles in national and international statistical organisations. Her reflections will explore the experiences, challenges, and values that have guided her work, from teaching tens of thousands of students to representing Australia at the United Nations.

BIO: Helen MacGillivray AM

Helen was only the second Australian and second female to be President of the International Statistical Institute in its almost 140 year history. She was an inaugural Australian Senior Learning and Teaching Fellow, first female President and Honorary Life Member of the Statistical Society of Australia, and President of the International Association for Statistical Education. Helen is Editor of Teaching Statistics, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was the inaugural Chair of the UN Global Network of Institutions for Statistical Training.

Helen has received national awards and grants, and written textbooks, chapters, keynotes, invited and refereed papers on authentic and enquiry-oriented statistical learning and assessment, curricula design, learning support and research topics in distributions. Helen has chaired reviews of university departments and centres across Australia and internationally and organised international and national conferences.

Helen's university leadership roles included developing, coordinating and leading teaching in diverse university programs, founding and directing university-wide learning support centres and mentored developmental programs in university teaching. Helen has played key roles in state and national school education in statistics curricula, teacher professional development, resources, assessment and extension and enrichment programs for thousands of secondary school students.

In 2024, Helen was awarded Member of the Order of Australia for service to statistics and mathematics education.

• Learn from Experience: Helen’s journey offers rich insights into building a career in statistics while leading innovations in education.
• Be Inspired: Discover how one person’s passion for teaching and statistical thinking can influence thousands across disciplines and borders.
• Contribute to History: This webinar will be recorded, with a transcript prepared to support the History Standing Committee’s work in documenting the evolution of statistics education in Australia.

Who Should Attend?

• Early career statisticians
• Students aspiring to work in statistics or related fields
• Anyone interested in the history and future of statistics education