Rhona Johnston University of Hull, UK

Rhona Johnston trained as a primary school teacher and worked as a learning support teacher for a number of years. She was then a lecturer in psychology at the University of St Andrews, a Reader at the University of Birmingham, and since 2001 has been a Professor of Psychology at the University of Hull. With Joyce Watson she devised a synthetic phonics programme which they showed in their study in Clackmannanshire was very much more effective than other types of phonics teaching.