Aphasia News

The Robin Tavistock Award

The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia are delighted to announce that Professor Chris Code is the fifth recipient of The Robin Tavistock Award. 

This award, named after Robin Tavistock, the 14th Duke of Bedford who founded The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia, is presented annually to a person, or group, who has made a significant contribution in the field of aphasia.

Chris Code has made an exceptional contribution in raising the profile, awareness and understanding of aphasia.  To list all his achievements: posts held, publications, professional activities and honours would take far too much time and space.  To name but a few, Chris is currently a Professorial Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at the University of Exeter, Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Sydney (Hon), visiting professor University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Chris is also, on a voluntary basis, a Patron of AphasiaNow, a ground breaking website run by and for people with aphasia and he is a National Advisor to Speakability, a UK wide charity that supports and empowers people with aphasia.

It is, however, particularly for his role as co-founder in 1987 and Editor in Chief to this day, of Aphasiology that the TTA recognises his extraordinary contribution.  To quote Clinical Aphasiology:  ‘Professor Code has made a galvanizing impact on the field: as a savant, a motivator and an impresario of trends which have resulted in several significant developments in the field.’

Chris Code has dedicated a huge part of his life to furthering the understanding of the issues that surround aphasia.  In 2007 the degree to which he is respected by his peers was made evident when Clinical Aphasiology, Future Directions – a festschrift for Chris Code, edited by Ball and Damico, was published. "A true testimony to Chris Code's three decades at the heart of aphasia research; this is a fitting tribute from the aphasiology community to the substantial influence that Chris has had on the field of clinical aphasiology…"  Anne Whitworth, University of Newcastle, UK.