Dr Irene Froyland
Your hand is always stretched out in friendship but never in want. Your home is always too small to hold all your friends. We are fortunate to have been touched by that friendship.
Sponsored by: Vince and Kate Hughes (27/02/2010)
Story
Dr Irene Froyland was a foundation staff member of Edith Cowan University with long experience as both a teacher and researcher in the disciplines of education, psychology, justice studies and criminology. In all of her work she emphasised the need for universities to "value add" to the professions with which they are involved, by presenting an empathetic but critical perspective. She counts herself fortunate to have been a member of a university that supports and encourages "second chance" students who come to tertiary education later in life.
After years as a secondary teacher and a teacher educator, she was part of the team that developed the first degree courses for police and prison officers in Western Australia. In 1991, the Western Australia Police agreed to appoint a police officer to work with an ECU member in police research and the Centre for Police Research won the University's first collaborative ARC grant. As the focus of the centre was widened to include all who work in the administration of justice it was renamed the Sellenger Centre in honour of William Charles Sellenger, a WA hero who succeeded against great odds to become a highly respected Commissioned Police Officer early in the last century.
Under Irene's leadership the Centre was awarded in excess of one million dollars in research monies. It fostered post graduate students, including one of the Faculty's first doctoral graduates and Irene was acknowledged for her excellence in research leadership and post graduate supervision by the Post Graduate and Honour's Student Association.
Irene's own education was undertaken at Perth Modern School, the University of Western Australia and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada where she was awarded a Graduate Fellowship for outstanding Scholarship as part of her work towards her PhD in criminology.
In 2004, Irene accepted the position of Foundation Director, Corruption Prevention, Education and Research in the new Corruption and Crime Commission. She filled this role for more than five years, sharing responsibility for the establishment of the CCC, and leading a team of professionals committed to preventing misconduct in the WA Public Sector. As Director, CPER she worked collaboratively with other state integrity bodies and with Anti-Corruption Commissions in NSW and Queensland.
On her formal retirement from professional life, Irene has agreed to continue to support the university in an adjunct capacity.