Remembering Sally Diane Hartley
By: Communications
All at UEA were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Professor Sally Diane Hartley on Friday 5 December.
Karen Bunning, professor in the School of Health Sciences, paid tribute:
Sally joined UEA in 2006 as the first appointed professor to the School of Allied Health Professions (later to become the School of Health Sciences). Originally qualifying as a speech & language therapist and audiologist, Sally engaged in research and development in low-income communities of the world.
She first went to Kenya for Voluntary Service Overseas in 1969 where she helped to train nurses to detect hearing problems in young children, and also set up units for deaf children attached to regular schools. This was a first step in a long association with international development work.
In 2001, Sally co-founded the pan-African organisation Community-based rehabilitation Africa Network (CAN). She also served as one of the editors and authors of the Community-based rehabilitation and inclusive development guidelines (World Health Organisation, 2010) and the very first World report on disability (WHO, 2011). Through her association with the Kenya Medical Research Institute, Sally facilitated staff members here at UEA to develop research into community-based inclusive development with children growing up with disabilities and their families.
Retiring in 2010, with numerous publication credits to her name, Sally maintained a role as advisor on a series of funded projects in Kenya exploring community-based interventions for children with disabilities and their families. She held visiting professorships at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and at Sydney University, Australia. Latterly she was a co-founder of a UK-registered charity set up to advance the work in Kenya (www.walezi-caregivers-kenya.org).
Sally lost her battle with cancer on 5 December 2025. She possessed a spirit of kindness and generosity that will be missed by all those who had the pleasure of working with her.
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