Margot Prior

Margot Ruth Prior (24 March 1937 – 24 August 2020) was an Australian psychologist, educator, and musician. She was professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne where her research focused on autism and literacy development. She was also director of psychology at the Royal Children's Hospital and was adjunct professor at La Trobe University.

Biography Prior was born on 24 March 1937, in Melbourne, Victoria. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BMus and a BA. She completed an MSc and PhD at Monash University and took up an academic position at La Trobe University in 1976. The Victorian Autism Specific Early Learning and Care centre at La Trobe was named after her in recognition of her long contribution to autism intervention science and service.

Prior was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 1992. She was Victorian Senior Australian of the Year in 2006.

Selected works

Personal life Prior's first husband was musician Glenthorne Prior, who drowned when their three children were young. She later married John Hansen.

She died from COVID-19 on 24 August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.