Obituaries Australia

Tom Triggs, c1985

Monash University, 1359

Professor Thomas James (Tom) Triggs, when asked socially about his subject area, would usually say “psychology”, but that was only part of the story. In a long career as researcher, teacher, mentor, and administrator who came to psychology from a distinguished academic background in aeronautical engineering, Tom left a legacy of work that illustrates the application of human perception, information processing, and decision making to areas such as automobile design, aircraft navigation, occupational safety in transportation, young driver training and assessment, and health care.

Tom, who died on 7 September 2012 at age 73, was born to Reg and Irene Triggs in the Sydney suburb of Strathfield in 1938, his father being a staunch Labor man who became Secretary of the Shire and Municipal Employees Union and Chairman of the Sydney County Council. Tom was educated at St. Patrick’s College, Strathfield, where he studied maths and science, played tennis, sang in the choir, developed a lifelong love of classical music, and graduated dux of the College.

Tom topped his class in aeronautical engineering at Sydney University, and he was on course to study wind tunnels when he developed a mutual rapport with Dr. (later Professor) Ross Day from the University’s Department of Psychology, who “took him to the stacks” (as Tom described it, where ‘the stacks’ is Sydney University parlance for ‘the Library’). The transforming stimulus was an article in the 1952 Journal of Applied Psychology, and Tom was set on an inspired path toward Human Factors, or Ergonomics.

At Sydney University Tom completed a B.Sc. (Mathematics), B.E. (Aeronautical Engineering) with first class honours, and a Master of Engineering Science. Having been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and a Ford International Fellowship, he began his studies at the University of Michigan in 1962 where he earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Engineering Psychology.

On completion of his post-graduate studies Tom worked initially at the Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles and then as manager of the Experimental Psychology Department of Bolt Beranek and Newman, a high-technology research and development company in Boston. While in Boston he married his lifelong partner, Tele.

In 1973, after eleven years in the USA, Australia beckoned and Tom was recruited by Professors Ross Day, who was the Founding Head of the Monash University Department of Psychology, and Ron Cumming, who shared Tom’s background and interest in Human Factors. Thus began nearly four decades of Tom’s association with Monash which was maintained during four periods of leave when he engaged in work in the USA. In one such period (1989-1991) he was Director of the Battelle Human Factors and Organizational Effectiveness Research Centre in Seattle where he was involved in research on human performance and information processing in applied settings such as power plant control rooms, aviation, and defence environments, as well as more basic research on performance. From Seattle he returned to Monash as Professor of Psychology and served as Head of Department from 1993 to 1995.

In addition to his role in the Department of Psychology, Tom was instrumental in establishing the Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) and served as its Deputy Director for thirteen years (1991-2004). At MUARC Tom pioneered Australian driver simulation research. In the 1990’s he was  project manager on the large young driver research program, funded by the Prime Minister’s Road Safety Initiative, which led to the development of DriveSmart, the widely used PC-based program for developing higher order cognitive skills in young drivers, and the subsequent large-scale evaluation program. In the words of Lauchlan McIntosh, President of the Australasian College of Road Safety, “Tom was recognised as one of Australia’s most eminent and innovative leaders in his efforts to reduce road crashes…His contribution made driving safer, not only in Australia, but internationally.”

Tom published widely, and over the years he took a significant role on editorial boards of Human Factors, Applied Ergonomics, Safety Science, and the International Review of Ergonomics. His international reputation as a researcher on young drivers led to invitations to deliver keynote speeches at conferences around the world. He also went to Samoa to provide expert testimony before the High Court during deliberations on changing the driving side of Samoan roads.

Tom possessed many gifts, one of which was his ability to touch the lives of people and leave a positive impact upon them.  As Tom had been led towards a passionate commitment to Human Factors by his mentor Ross Day, Tom in turn handed the baton on to his many students. And he led and inspired others in every avenue of his life – as a lecturer, scientist, colleague and friend. Comments from many who knew him give testimony to this.

His Head of Department considered that Tom was “one of the finest academics” he has known. “He was so good with students, and they flocked around him.” In the words of these students themselves, Tom explained lectures with clarity (“Statistics became my favourite subject”); also (“He had an incredible ability to empower his students to excel. He knew what his students needed from him to succeed, and he would provide that support with gentleness and unwavering patience”).

Tom’s graduate seminar in decision making and human performance, too, was seen as a major contribution to the Department of Psychology. Meeting weekly on a Thursday afternoon, these sessions attracted participants from across the University. In the opinion of one colleague, “Tom's seminars were the highlight of my academic life. Partly it was the subject matter, partly the people involved, but largely the opening of the mind to a fascination with aspects of human behaviour. Tom’s seminar series changed the way I thought about and understood the world.”

To complete the picture of Tom as a person other remembrances should be added: “He was a great scholar, but the finest and most salient picture I have of him is that he was a gentleman in the true sense of the word, with a wicked humour”; and “He was also a mentor and friend to many in the profession, and by association with him, many of us have profited from his intellect and his humanity…I will miss him, terribly”.

The accolades that have been showered upon Tom come from both Australia and overseas and attest to the wide acclaim, influence and impact that Tom’s scientific and professional contributions have had both nationally and internationally. Over and above these, however, he will be remembered most dearly for his life as husband and father. In every respect Tom was a wonderful family man. His devotion to his wife Tele was absolute, and his love for their daughters Sumi and Maya was all-embracing.

Upon age-determined retirement Tom became Emeritus Professor and continued to work with determination, courage, and dignity, accepting new challenges until the very late stages of his fourteen-year illness with haematological cancer. When asked by Tele about this, his answer was “I wanted to make a difference.”

He truly did.