Phil Silva
Phil Silva | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Philip Anthony Silva 22 August 1940 Cromwell, New Zealand |
| Died | 12 June 2025 (aged 84) Christchurch, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Otago |
| Known for | Founder and inaugural director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields |
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| Institutions | University of Otago |
| Thesis | Some neurological and psychological characteristics of children who were preterm and small for gestational age : a multi-disciplinary study (1978) |
Philip Anthony Silva OBE (22 August 1940 – 12 June 2025) was a New Zealand psychologist, educator, and researcher. He was the founder and director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (known as the Dunedin Study) from 1972 to 1999.
Life and career
[edit]Phil Silva was born in Cromwell, New Zealand to Herbert Frederick Silva, a metallurgist, and Ella Theodore Angermunde, a shop assistant. He was the second eldest of eight siblings.[1][2][3] His parents divorced in 1946.[3] He was educated at Otago Boys' High School, and went on to study at Dunedin Teachers' College.[2][4]
Silva worked as a primary school teacher for eight years, and earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Otago in 1968.[2][4] His master's thesis was titled The S.R.A. reading laboratories: an experimental investigation into the effectiveness of the S.R.A. reading laboratories in Dunedin intermediate schools.[5] He spent five years as a psychologist, and in 1971 began working with Patricia Buckfield in the University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine's Department of Paediatrics on a small study (225 subjects) of child development.[4] That led to his PhD degree in 1978, with a thesis titled Some neurological and psychological characteristics of children who were preterm and small for gestational age: a multi-disciplinary study,[6] and his founding in 1972 of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a long-term research investigation of human health, development and behaviour.[7] Silva served as its study's director until his retirement in 1999.[4][8]
Significance and impact
[edit]Under Silva's direction, the Dunedin Study evolved into one of the most comprehensive investigations of human health and development ever conducted.[9]
The study's findings have had far-reaching implications for understanding human development and have influenced policy in numerous areas within New Zealand and internationally. Research from the Dunedin Study has contributed to a wider understanding of the importance of early childhood experiences, the development of antisocial behaviour, the effects of socioeconomic factors on health outcomes, and other topics relevant to public health and social policy.
By the time of Silva's retirement as director in 1999, the Dunedin Study had gained international recognition, and it was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in 1993. The study has continued under subsequent directors, including the late Richie Poulton and current director Professor Moana Theodore.
Upon his retirement, Silva was named director emeritus of the Dunedin Study, and took on the role of national chair of the Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education (DARE) Foundation.[8] He fully retired in 2006, and moved to Nelson where he lived on a yacht and served as Commodore of the Tasman Bay Cruising Club.[4][8][10] He later moved to Christchurch,[8] where he died on 12 June 2025, at the age of 84.[11][1]
Family and personal life
[edit]Up until his death, Silva was married to Suzanne Shand (m. 2016).
He had six children with his first wife, the late Wendy Crane. His son Tim Silva[12] was born during the study's founding year and became one of the 1,037 participants in the Dunedin Study. Tim stated he had "a particularly strong affiliation with the study" due to his father's role as founder. Jeremy Silva recalled his father's work ethic, noting that Silva would spend weekends repairing the condemned building that initially housed the study. He described his father's persistence, "Dad was like a cork in a bucket they just keep pushing him down and he keeps popping up".[12]
Silva was a keen outdoorsman, growing up fishing the Leith River and hunting and culling deer (which were classified a pest in New Zealand at the time). He enjoyed fishing in his youth and, when living in Dunedin, regularly spent time on sailing boats in the harbour.
Honours and awards
[edit]Silva was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to health education.[13]
In 2016, the Dunedin Study was awarded the Prime Minister's Science Prize,[14] and in 2022 it was awarded the Rutherford Medal of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.[15]
Research and publications
[edit]Silva authored and co-authored numerous publications based on the Dunedin Study. His most cited works include "From Child to Adult: The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study" (1996),[16] which he co-edited with W.R. Stanton; "A longitudinal study of children with developmental language delay at age three: later intelligence, reading and behaviour problems" (1987);[17] "The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study: A 15 year longitudinal study" (1990);[17] and "Sex Differences in Antisocial Behaviour: Conduct disorder, delinquency, and violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study" (2001),[18] co-authored with T.E. Moffitt, A. Caspi, and M. Rutter.
Silva served on the board of the Hearing Health Foundation for over 50 years. As a professor at Auckland University of Technology, he helped establish the Pacific Island Families Study.[19]
Throughout his career, Silva established national and international research collaborations that have been crucial to the study's success and longevity. The study now includes teams of researchers from around the world, including a significant collaboration with Duke University.
Legacy
[edit]Silva's legacy endures through the Dunedin Study, which he conceived and nurtured through its critical early decades. He has described the study as "a gift to the world".[20]
Research from the study has produced over 1,300 publications and reports, many of which have influenced policy and practice in health, education, criminal justice, and social services.[21]
Silva's vision of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to studying human development established a model for longitudinal research that has been emulated worldwide. His commitment to treating participants with respect and dignity created a strong foundation of trust that enabled the study to maintain a remarkably high retention rate over five decades. The ongoing research continues to provide unprecedented insights into how early life experiences influence health and wellbeing in later life.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Phil Silva obituary". The New Zealand Herald. 14 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ a b c Max Lambert (1991). "Guy Hardy Scholefield". Who's who in New Zealand. Reed. p. 579. ISBN 9780790001302 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "Supreme Court: divorce cases". Evening Star. No. 25962. 29 November 1946. p. 8. Retrieved 15 June 2025 – via PapersPast.
- ^ a b c d e "Dr Phil Silva, OBE". Dunedin Study. University of Otago. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "The S.R.A. reading laboratories : an experimental investigation into the effectiveness of the S.R.A. reading laboratories in Dunedin intermediate schools". University of Otago library catalogue. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Some neurological and psychological characteristics of children who were preterm and small for gestational age : a multi-disciplinary study". University of Otago library catalogue. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ Corlett, Eva (1 April 2022). "The Dunedin study at 50: landmark experiment tracked 1,000 people from birth". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d Matthews, Philip (15 June 2016). "National portrait: Phil Silva, psychology pioneer". Stuff. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ a b Corlett, Eva (1 April 2022). "The Dunedin study at 50: landmark experiment tracked 1,000 people from birth". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Stuff". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
- ^ Helyerdonaldson, Rachel (14 June 2025). "Landmark 'Dunedin Study' founder Dr Phil Silva dies, aged 84". Waikato Times. Retrieved 14 June 2025.
- ^ a b Moylan, Dellwyn (23 November 2023). "Lifetime role". ashburtoncourier.co.nz. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
- ^ "No. 53697". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 11 June 1994. p. 34.
- ^ "2016 Prime Minister's Science Prize Winner". Preime Minister's Science Prizes. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "The Dunedin Study wins Rutherford Medal and other Research Honours Aotearoa winners celebrated in Ōtepoti Dunedin". Royal Society Te Apārangi. 16 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "From Child to Adult: The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study". ourarchive.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ a b Silva, Phil A.; Williams, Sheila; McGee, Rob (1987). "A Longitudinal Study Of Children With Developmental Language Delay At Age Three: Later Intelligence, Reading And Behaviour Problems". Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 29 (5): 630–640. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.1987.tb08505.x. ISSN 1469-8749.
- ^ "Sex Differences in Antisocial Behaviour: Conduct disorder, delinquency, and violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study". ourarchive.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ Janis Paterson, Colin Tukuitonga, Max Abbott, Michael Feehan, Phil Silva, Teuila Percival, Sarnia Carter, Esther Cowley-Malcolm, Jim Borrows, Maynard Williams, Philip Schluter. "Pacific Islands Families: First Two Years of Life Study—design and methodology". www.nzma.org.nz. Archived from the original on 24 June 2009. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Dunedin Study following Kiwis since birth turns 50". 1News. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Stuff". www.stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 15 June 2025.