The following obituary was written by her husband, Cyril
Latimer; the Paul Barratt referred to therein is my father.
Professor Helen C. Beh. 1941 –
2012. Obituary
Most scientists would not
expect to publish in the prestigious journal Science at any stage of their careers. In 1965, within two years of the commencement
of her academic career, Helen Beh and her co-author Paul Barratt published
their paper “Discrimination
and Conditioning during Sleep as Indicated by the Electroencephalogram” in Science.
This landmark paper, demonstrating that changes in electroencephalograms
indicate that subjects respond more frequently to significant or meaningful
stimuli during sleep than to non-significant stimuli, and that conditioned
reactions may be induced in sleeping subjects, is still regularly cited today.
Professor Helen Beh went on to become an
internationally recognized expert in sleep research, psychophysiology, human
performance and sports psychology. In a
university career spanning 38 years, she published four books and 73 papers in
peer-reviewed journals. She was regularly invited as a keynote speaker at national
and international conferences, and acted as guest and consulting editor for
journals such as the Psychological
Bulletin and the Journal of
Experimental Psychology. She held
numerous overseas research appointments, including: Birkbeck College, University
of London; McGill University; and the University of California, Berkeley. Besides holding many research grants herself,
she regularly reviewed grant applications for the Australian Research Council
and the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council. Helen Beh
acted as a consultant to many NSW State Government Departments and Australian
Companies. These included the NSW RTA,
QANTAS, NSW Cricket Association, the Australian Football League and the Sydney
Opera House.
Helen Beh was an excellent
teacher, and in 1993 was one of the first academics to receive an Excellence in
Teaching Award at the University of Sydney.
She supervised 83 honours students, 18 masters students and 20 PhD
students, many of whom now hold senior academic, government and business
positions in Australia and overseas. She
recognised very early the potential of computer technology in teaching,
particularly in her courses on psychophysiology and human performance, and this
insight, together with her superb communication skills, ensured that her
lectures and tutorials were regularly crammed with enthusiastic psychology
students. Even today, her students
attest to her presence at the lectern, her critical thinking, her ability to
challenge, inspire and exhort them to “seek ever to stand in the hard Sophoclean
light and take their wounds from it gladly”.
Professor Helen Beh with some of her postgraduate students
Many academics would be satisfied
with excellence in teaching and research, but some would argue that Helen Beh’s
major contributions, particularly to the University of Sydney, were achieved in
her role as a senior administrator. Having
served as Sub Dean, Associate Dean and Pro Dean in the Faculty of Science, and also
Head of the Department of Psychology, she was appointed Acting Dean 1995-1997. This was a very difficult and turbulent time
in Australian universities, a time of fiscal uncertainty and a time when central
resources and power were devolved upon the faculties and thence the individual
departments. It was a time for fortitude,
clear thinking, a thorough understanding of what universities are and should be
about, innovation, sharp negotiating skills and a willingness to compromise –
an environment in which Helen Beh thrived. For various periods during 1996 and 1997, she
was Acting Pro-Vice–Chancellor, Sciences Group, and in 1999 was awarded an
Honorary Professorial Appointment in the Faculty of Science. She was the first woman to hold a Dean’s
appointment in the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney, and is
remembered for her outstanding negotiating skills, her economic and business
acumen and her ability to inspire confidence and extraordinary loyalty in
colleagues and staff.
Helen relaxing with Faculty colleagues Damon Ridley (left) and Bob
Hewitt (right).
Helen Charmaine Beh was born on
the 31st of July 1941 in Singleton, NSW, daughter of Florence
(Simpson) and Frederick Charles Beh. She
attended Singleton Public and High Schools and was awarded a BA (Hons) at the
University of New England in 1963. In
1969, she was the first woman to be awarded a PhD in Psychology at UNE. In 1973, she became the first woman to be
appointed Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Sydney. For her services to the Faculty of Science,
she was awarded a Master of Science (ad
eundem gradem) by the University of Sydney in 2000.
For someone who never suffered
fools gladly and rarely took prisoners, she could be incredibly generous with
her time, her advice and her finances.
She assisted dozens of students financially, and steered and encouraged
many uncertain young postgraduates into successful careers in universities,
government and business. She always knew
a good set of neurons when she saw one, and very rarely were her charity and
support misplaced. Formidable and
tenacious in argument, when her pistol misfired, she would, like Dr Johnson, simply
reverse the weapon and bludgeon her opponent with the butt end. From personal experience,
when insulted, she had a very fast and very accurate straight right. She was a
mean chess and scrabble player, and gloating opponents would often find the
board and pieces in their laps. Helen
had a devilish sense of humour that was used effectively against those with an
inflated sense of their own importance, and often to restore perspective in
many a committee meeting.
Raised on the land, she was an
excellent horsewoman, a sport to which she returned in later life.
Colleagues often remarked on her
capacity for working long hours and on her ability to achieve goals quickly and
effectively. I recall her sitting down
regularly at her computer in the evenings after cooking the family meal, and
over the period of a few weeks, writing not one, but two textbooks – one on
Human Performance and the other on Psychophysiology. She then formed her own publishing company
and had them printed. They were highly
successful and students bought them by the hundred.
Helen’s fighting spirit was
exemplified when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1999. She immediately
enrolled in a part-time Law degree at Macquarie University, collected several
prizes and graduated with first-class honours and the Dean’s Award for topping
the year in 2005.
In August 1999, Helen Beh
resigned from the University of Sydney to become the first CEO of the
Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA).
Using her sound financial skills, she was involved in increasing
members’ equity by almost $10 million in eight years. This despite membership fees having
effectively decreased by around 30% over the same period. With her enduring interest in training
programmes and continuing education, she ran workshops to train orthopaedic surgeons
who acted as interviewers for the AOA training programme, and oversaw the
development of a national training program and establishment of a national
selection process. She was influential
in bringing about the swift and successful completion of the Memoranda of
Understanding and Service Agreements for the training of surgeons between the Royal
Australasian College of Surgeons and the Specialist Surgical Societies. These formal arrangements were essential to
the College receiving accreditation from the Australian Medical Council, and
everyone involved valued Helen Beh’s leadership, intellectual input and
commitment to the process. Some believe
that her most significant contribution to the AOA was her knowledge and
advocacy of proper corporate governance in the workings of AOA Boards and
associated committees.
In early 2007, Helen was
diagnosed with a malignant and aggressive brain tumour, and without treatment,
given weeks to live. The fighting spirit
resurfaced, and she enrolled in a counselling course! With the help of her excellent medical teams
at the Prince of Wales Hospital, the Sacred Heart Hospice, Darlinghurst, and
Milford House Nursing Home, not to speak of the love and care given by her
family and friends, she defied all the statistics of her disease, surviving
almost six years, and being able to play with her beloved grandchildren Will
and Honor. Helen, being Helen, had no
funeral or memorial service – just a simple cremation and Wake at which many of
her family, friends, colleagues and students remembered and celebrated a life
well lived. Helen’s Memorial is to be a
dedicated Holm oak and bench seat overlooking Randwick Pond in Centennial Park. She is survived by daughter Phillipa, sons
Jason and Steven, husband Cyril and her beloved cats, “Screamer” and “Big Cat”.
Cyril Latimer
4 June 2012
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