ELSEVIER Human Movement Science 14 (1995) 133-135

HUMAN

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In memoriam

Dr. Denis John Glencross

Denis Glencross, Editorial Board member of Human Movement Science, died suddenly and unexpectedly on August 18, 1994 following a heart attack. At the time of his death Dr. Glencross was Head of the School of Psychology at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia and President of the International Society of Sport Psychology. As an internationally renowned scholar of motor control and of the psychological aspects of human skill and a truly outstanding contributor and leader to a number of professions within human movement science, Dr. Glencross’s passing leaves an enormous void. He will be sadly missed by colleagues and friends world wide.

Born in Perth on February 15th, 1939 Denis Glencross began his academic career with a BEd degree with first class honours obtained from the University of Western Australia in 1961. This, coupled with a teaching certification and Diploma of Physical Education, provided the background for his first academic appointment, that of Lecturer in Physical Education at the University of Western Australia. A MEd from the same institution followed in 1964 coincident with a move to South Australia where he took up a lectureship in physical education at the University of Adelaide. His career moved in the direction of psychology in 1969 with his appointment to a lectureship position in the Department of Psychology at Flinders University of South Australia. Glencross obtained his PhD in Psychology from the University of Adelaide in 1972 after completion of his thesis work supervised by Professor A.T. Welford. Dr. Glencross’s early and ongoing orientation to the study of human skills was profoundly influenced by the information processing perspective of Welford and that of other leading British cognitive psychologists of that time. Glencross remained at Flinders University until 1988 rising progressively, on the basis of his productive research program and burgeoning international reputation, to the level of Associate Professor. His return to Perth in 1988 as the inaugural Chair in

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134 In memoriam /Human Movement Science 14 (1995) 133-135

Psychology at Curtin University fittingly coincided with the elevation of that institution to University status.

While his formal education was exclusively within Australia Glencross’s reputation as a scientist led to numerous invitations to visit prestigious overseas institutions as a research scholar. Periods spent at the Medical Research Council in London (in 1967-681, the University of Cambridge (in 1972-73), at the Centre Nationale Recherche Scientifique in France (in 1978-79) and, most recently, at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies (1989) all resulted in the establishment of productive, collaborative lines of research and cemented his place as a central figure internationally in the study of human motor skill.

Denis Glencross excelled in all aspects of his academic, professional and personal life. As the author of two books, some 57 original papers in refereed journals, 14 book chapters and over 100 conference papers and technical reports his scholarship has been both intensive and extensive. Glencross’s theoretical work especially that on motor sequencing and programming; on manual control systems and their modelling; on attention, capacity and automaticity; and on phasing and coincidence timing; has been widely and enduringly influential. His theoretical papers appeared in journals as diverse in focus but uniformly high in quality as Journal of Experimental Psychology, Journal of Motor Behavior, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Brain and Language and the like. Of these papers his 1977 review paper in the Psychological Bulletin simply entitled “The control of skilled movements” is probably his most cited.

Throughout his career Glencross made a deliberate attempt to link his theoretical work to the understanding and solution of practical problems, designing and undertaking a series of noteworthy and, in many cases, pioneering research projects on human skills and ergonomics. His ambi- tious projects on the training of keyboarding skills, on the effects of alcohol on decision making, and recently on expert systems in the training of sports performers and learner drivers have all been important contributions. His 1978 book Psychology and Sport was a landmark publication in terms of the linking of two of the great passions of Glencross’s life - psychology and sport. As an eminent psychologist and former Australian hockey represen- tative he was uniquely positioned to link the theoretical with the practical, in understanding and enhancing motor skill performance.

The quality and eclectic nature of Dr. Glencross’s work resulted in a consistent flow of external grants support for his research work. He attracted continuous support for his basic research work from the Aus-

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tralian Research Council from 1975 onwards along with major one-off grants from agencies such as the Australian Sports Commission and the Federal Office of Road Safety. All of this occurred in a time in Australia when external grants support was becoming increasingly competitive and difficult to obtain.

In addition to his academic leadership, Dr. Glencross was outstanding in advancing the causes of his profession. He, unselfishly, gave enormous amounts of time and energy to duties such as reviewing for scholarly journals and granting agencies, organising conferences and study visits, and contributing and (frequently) directing the formation and smooth running of a number of professional organisations. At the national level he was responsible, among other achievements, for the formation of a Board of Sport Psychologists within the Australian Psychological Society, for the initiation of a biennial Motor Control and Human Skills conference and for the formation of the Asian and South Pacific Association of Sport Psychol- ogy. At the international level he has been a major force for a number of years in the International Society of Sport Psychology, highlighted in 1993 by his election to presidency of that organisation.

For all his academic and professional achievements those who have known Denis Glencross will remember him best for his wonderful personal attributes. Glencross was an extremely warm, affable and generous charac- ter whose enthusiasm and zest for life was contagious. He enjoyed nothing better than a good meal, good wine, relaxed company and a good joke . . .

and he knew well how to produce all of these. Through his students and his international network of colleagues Denis

Glencross’s ideas and inspirations will endure. Human movement science is infinitely richer for the many contributions he has made.

Dr. Glencross is survived by his wife, Issi, son, Ben, and daughter, Cie Cie.

Bruce Abernethy Dept. of Human Movement Studies

The University of Queensland St Lucia, Qld 4072

Australia