Professor Gordon Parker AO

Professor Gordon Parker AO is Scientia Professor of Psychiatry at UNSW, founder and initial Executive Director of the Black Dog Institute, and former Head of the School of Psychiatry at UNSW. He also served as Director of the Division of Psychiatry at Prince of Wales Hospital and has held key roles with the Royal Australian & New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, including Editor of its journal. His contributions extend to legal organisations, including the NSW Guardianship Board and the NSW Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

A leading authority on mood disorders, Professor Parker was recognised in 2004 as the Australian Scientist most highly cited in Psychiatry/Psychology. In 2018, he was awarded the prestigious James Cook Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales. He has authored 23 books and more than 1,000 scientific reports, advancing research, treatment, and understanding of depression, bipolar disorder, and related conditions.

Beyond academia, Professor Parker has a rich creative history. He began publishing fiction in 1966 and his most recent novel, In Two Minds, appeared in 2017. In the 1960s, he contributed to The Mavis Bramston Show and OZ Magazine, was an ABC Science broadcaster, and reviewed books for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian. His play, Personality Games, was produced by La Mama in Melbourne in 2004, and his autobiography, A Piece of My Mind: A Psychiatrist on the Couch, was published in 2012.

Professor Parker’s career uniquely bridges psychiatry, research, public communication, and creative writing, making him a respected and influential voice in both science and the arts.