International Women's Day 2020

Professor Linley Lord is the Pro Vice-Chancellor and President of Curtin Singapore with overall responsibility for the academic quality and integrity of the campus programs and for building the research profile of the University in Singapore. Prior to her appointment in Singapore she Chaired Curtin University’s Academic Board and was a member of University Council for six years. She Co-led Curtin’s Athena SWAN Project and was the Director of the Maureen Bickley Centre for Women in Leadership (MBC) at the Faculty of Business and Law. She was the inaugural Academic Director for the Curtin Leadership Centre, leading the development of co-curricular student leadership programs. 

In Singapore, Linley chairs the Education Services Interest Group for the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce. She is also a member of the Australian Women in Business Group. 

Her research interests focus on gender and leadership and she has presented her research at major international conferences in North America, Europe, the UK and Australia. In 2015 the book she co-edited with Diana Bilimoria, Case Western Women in STEM Careers Increasing Workforce Participation through Organisational and Individual Strategies won the Commonwealth Businesswomen Awards – Publication of the year. 

She regularly consults to industry particularly in relation to new models for leadership, women on boards and women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).  

Gail Kent was born and brought up in Glasgow, where her parents still live. A school trip to Germany in 1989 kicked off a steady relationship with Europe, and the Brexit referendum made her want to really do something about the state of UK politics. She decided to get involved and stood for Parliament in 2017 to continue a fight for a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, where we are stronger when we try to find similarities, rather than through promoting fear. Gail ran in Dulwich and West Norwood, in South London, where she had lived for almost 20 years.

She spent 17 years working for the National Crime Agency (the UK's equivalent of the FBI) where she saw every day how important international cooperation is for keeping us all safe. She served for four years at the UK embassy in Rome, tackling the mafia, money launderers and people traffickers, and now works for Facebook. After a few years focused on helping law enforcement around the world understand Facebook, she now focuses on talking to governments about how technology is changing privacy, safety and security.  Gail is married to Tim, and has two children. She loves cycling, baking and travelling with her family – so much so that they now live in California.

Dr Linda Papadopoulos has built an outstanding reputation in both academia and broadcasting.  A hugely successful psychologist, author, keynote speaker, columnist, host and broadcaster, Linda’s analysis on current affairs, trends and human behaviour is highly sought after and syndicated around the world. 

Her work has informed government policy, most notably heading up a highly acclaimed independent review for the Home Office on the effects of sexualisation on young people. She is frequently invited to sit on medical advisory boards and her prolific research into body image and Psychodermatology has informed clinical guidelines on the treatments of dermatological conditions, in particular acne. 

Her recent work on the impact of social media on mental and cognitive health has received widespread recognition and she is currently an ambassador for Internet Matters, a not for profit organisation advising parents on how to help children navigate the online world. 

With an array of credits in broadcast, radio and print, Linda has fronted shows for various channels and networks and she recently launched her own podcast series, The Psychology Behind. Linda was also the contributing editor and resident psychologist at Cosmopolitan magazine for over 15 years. As well as writing psychology and lifestyle features for various national newspapers and magazines Linda is widely published in academic journals and has written several academic and self-help books. 

A trusted voice, with a distinguished career both on and off screen, Linda promotes a philosophy underpinned by a wealth of experience and dedicated research, that promotes and encourages people to develop a healthy self-esteem and body image. She was recently awarded the prestigious EVCOM Fellowship Award in recognition of her outstanding and prolific academic publication record and for being an exceptional communicator, both as an author and broadcaster.