[Commpsych] Sad news - Arthur Veno 1945-2019

[Heather Gridley]

Dear Community Psychology colleagues and fellow travellers


Some of you might have already heard the sad news that Dr Art Veno passed away last month. His health had taken a battering in recent years, and he died just a few months after his wife Liz who had been living with cancer for a long time. We were fortunate that Art came along to a couple of comm psych events in the last 18 months and caught up with a number of old friends - he spoke to the students present about the legacy of generations in the community psychology family that they would be taking forward - no pressure 😉.


I know that many of you knew Art well and will remember him fondly, whether from his early days in Australia in the 70s and 80s, as a teacher and mentor at Monash Gippsland, from the extraordinary 'mobile social justice' trips to the Maralinga and Yarrabah Aboriginal communities that he organised in the early 90s, from his work with 'outlaw' motor cycle groups that saw him shift his focus from psychology to criminology, or from his adoption of Quaker philosophy and practices.


A memorial service was held in Warragul for family and friends, and our thoughts are with his children Lucas, Zac and Maddie who are doubly grieving. We are planning a small gathering in the near future for anyone who would like to share yarns and memories of Art's community psychology days - do let me know if you would like details. And anyone who can't be there in person is welcome to send along any thoughts or stories that we might pass on to Art's family if it seems appropriate. (Not that 'appropriate' is a word often linked with Art Veno)


Here is a summary of the citation that accompanied the inaugural APS College of Community Psychologists Award of Distinction to Art in 2007 - the College has only made five such awards in the 15 years since they were established by the APS across all nine Colleges.


Dr. Arthur Veno received the inaugural Award of Distinction because of his foundational and leadership roles in the College (then Board), and also for his work in promoting Australian Indigenous psychology. The Award also recognised Arthur’s mentoring role to students and practitioners over the years. A few of his achievements are listed below:

  *   He taught Community and Social Psychology from 1985–1994 at Monash University.
  *   He was National Chair of the Board from 1987-1990.
  *   From 1984-1989, he was Editor of the first editions of Network: The Bulletin of the Board of Community Psychologists, now published online as The Australian Community Psychologist.
  *   In 1990 and 1993, he organized workshops involving extensive travel to Aboriginal communities for the APS, and became the inaugural (acting) convener of the APS Interest Group on Aboriginal Issues (now the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Psychology Interest Group)
  *   In 1992, he joined forces with David Thomas in Aotearoa New Zealand to edit a joint Community Psychology textbook which was the first non-United States book in the area.

Arthur’s own blending of research and action exemplified best practice in applied community psychology. His work with the policing of motorcycle groups represents one of the most innovative early applications of Community Psychology theory to an Australian community context, and saw him win several state and national awards for peace and violence prevention. In sum, Arthur's deep commitment to community psychology has earned him a place of regard as one of our elders. He has made a truly substantial, though often unorthodox, contribution to the profession and discipline, all in the context of enhancing community wellbeing.
Best regards

Heather


Heather Gridley

Honorary Fellow

College of Health and Biomedicine

Victoria University

Melbourne, Australia

E: heather.gridley at vu.edu.au<mailto:heather.gridley at vu.edu.au>

Ph: +61 419113731


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