Jennifer M. Gidley

Jennifer M. Gidley PhD is an Australian psychologist, innovative educator and futurist. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS Sydney, and also Southern Cross University in NSW. She has held academic positions within four Australian universities since 1995, and also holds academic affiliations in universities in France and Spain.

A sought-after international speaker, advisor and consultant, Jennifer’s research, speaking and consulting invitations over the last fifteen years have involved her in projects across Europe (Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden), the Middle East (Egypt, Iran, UAE), UK, USA, and Asia (Malaysia, Shanghai, Taiwan).

As former President (2009-2017) of the World Futures Studies Federation, a UNESCO and UN partner founded in Paris in 1973, she led the global peak body for the world’s leading futurists from over 60 countries. During this time she presided over UNESCO-Funded Participation Projects to empower young people from the DR Congo and Egypt, Malaysia and the Philippines, Mexico and Haiti.

Jennifer’s PhD on the evolution of consciousness (2008) was awarded the Chancellor’s Gold Medal for Academic Excellence. It explored how human thinking has evolved from survival thinking, when we lived as hunters, to present day thinking and beyond. A leading researcher on “futures of thinking” she is uniquely placed as a thought leader on postformal reasoning in Australia and Europe.

She serves on several academic editorial boards, has published dozens of academic papers published several books. Her recent books include: Postformal Education: A Philosophy for Complex Futures (Springer, 2016); and The Future: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2017).