Presidents and Vice Presidents

20-years ago there was little understanding of stress outside a small circle and, largely due to the excellent work of the likes of Cary Cooper, Stephen Palmer and Stephen McKeown, and their efforts to create an organisation to bring the issue of stress to the fore, the public now accept stress and the management of stress as part of their daily lifestyle. Managing stress at work has become a better understood discipline and risk assessment of stress is now a Health & Safety at Work requirement.

Below we profile the Presidents and Vice Presidents of ISMA^UK:

President 

Professor Cary Cooper CBE is Professor of Organisational Psychology & Health at Lancaster University Management School. He is author of over 100 books and 400 journal articles on Occupational Stress and Organisational Psychology. He is currently Founding Editor of the Journal of Organisational Behaviour and Co-Editor of the medical journal Stress and Health. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, The Royal Society of Arts, The Royal Society of Medicine, The Royal Society of Health and the British Academy of Management. Cary holds Honorary Doctorates from four leading universities and in 2006 was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians. In 2001 Cary was awarded a CBE for his contribution to organisational health.

Immediate Past President

Dr Steve McKeown is a Consultant Psychiatrist with 20 years experience in providing general adult psychiatric services, a past President of ISMA^UK and acts as Consultant in Mental Health to a number of organisations including AstraZeneca.  He is also Associate Medical Director in Psychiatry for BUPA. Currently a Director of Xanthis Ltd, Dr McKeown is an active member of the team researching and developing computer based CBT programmes.

Honorary Vice-President

Professor Angela Clow joined the University of Westminster in 1989 and is a founder member of the Psychophysiology and Stress Research Group (PSRG). Professor Clow's research focus's on the biochemistry of stress, in particular cortisol patterns. Professor Clow has published over 85 full-length peer-reviewed papers, 2 books, and 24 book chapters or reviews.

Honorary Vice-President

Professor Stephen Palmer PhD is Founder Director of the Centre for Coaching and Centre for Stress Management, London, UK. He is an Honorary Professor of Psychology at City University and Founder Director of their Coaching Psychology Unit. He is the UK’s first Visiting Professor of Work Based Learning and Stress Management at the National Centre for Work Based Learning Partnerships, Middlesex University, an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Manchester, a Consultant Director of the New Zealand Centre for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy and the New Zealand Centre for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. He is a Chartered Psychologist (Health & Counselling), a Chartered Scientist, an Association for Professional Executive Coaches & Supervisors (APECS) Accredited Executive Coach and APECS Accredited Executive Coach Supervisor.  He is Honorary President of the Association for Coaching, Honorary Vice President of the Society for Coaching Psychology, Honorary Fellow and Vice President of the Institute of Health Promotion and Education, Fellow and Honorary Vice-President of the International Stress Management Association (UK).  He was the first Chair of the British Psychological Society Special Group in Coaching Psychology. He is Editor of the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education,  the UK Coordinating Co-Editor of the International Coaching Psychology Review and Executive Editor of Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice. He has written numerous articles and authored or edited over 30 books.

Honorary Vice-President

Professor Terry Looker is Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences at Manchester Metropolitan University teaching and researching in the relationships between cardiovascular pathophysiology, stress and health. In 1985 he studied the theory, diagnosis and treatment of Type A Behaviour and has appeared regularly on TV, Radio and in the press, and is co-author of the popular Teach Yourself Managing Stress.

Honorary Vice-President

Carole Spiers is a former Chair of ISMA^UK, an ISMA^UK validated trainer and internationally recognised Occupational Stress Counsellor and Consultant. As well as running a leading-edge consultancy specialising in Stress Management and Corporate Wellbeing, Carole is frequently called upon by the national and international media to provide comment and keynote presentations on stress-related issues, regularly writing journal features.

Honorary Vice-President

Roger Mead served eight years on the board of ISMA^UK. Regularly called upon by media, Roger has a background of working in large organisations before moving into stress management and now runs a stress management consultancy (Roger Mead Associates) based in London working with organisations to identify the causes of stress in the workplace and then to remove them or reduce the adverse effects.