Brief Bio

Sophia Nimphius, PhD, GAICD, is a strategist and innovator known for challenging the status quo. With over two decades of experience in elite sport, she possesses an acute understanding of the drivers of human performance and leveraged this expertise to become a change-maker and thought leader in sport and beyond. She is currently the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sport) and Professor of Human Performance at Edith Cowan University (ECU). She has held many roles in industry, including Sports Science Manager for then Hurley Surfing Australia High Performance Centre, High Performance Women’s Sport Science Coordinator for Softball Australia and High Performance Manager for Softball Western Australia over her more than 20 years in elite sport. She is an accomplished keynote speaker, researcher and practitioner with an ability to convey a message to a variety of audiences, driven by the constant desire to improve and positively influence the industry and as a larger whole, our society.

The following episode on the podcast “Leave Your Mark” by Scott Livingston outlines a bit of my “story” to present and aired on Christmas Day, 2018.

Extended Biography

Sophia Nimphius, PhD, GAICD, is a strategist and innovator known for challenging the status quo. With over two decades of experience in elite sport, she possesses an acute understanding of the drivers and contributors to human performance and has leveraged this expertise to become a change-maker and thought leader in sport and beyond. She works internationally to lead improvements for sport environments and advocating for improving the sporting system.

Brief summary of current positions, past positions and formal education

She is currently the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sport) and Professor at Edith Cowan University (ECU). She has held prior roles such as Sports Science Manager at Surfing Australia Hurley High Performance Centre and has worked as a sports scientist and strength and conditioning coach in the USA and Australia with national, Olympic, and professional teams and athletes. She completed her PhD in Sports Science in collaboration with the Western Australian Institute of Sport, completed a Masters in Exercise Science, and completed a Bachelor of Science (Biology) and Bachelor of Science (Sports Management) in the United States while competing as a multi-sport NCAA scholarship athlete.

Domain expertise

Sophia is an active researcher in sport, Associate Editor of the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, and a major contributor to academic and practitioner resources on athlete performance, athlete health and sport as a vehicle for change. She leverages her varied educational background, taking a multidisciplinary approach to her research. She is an Accredited High Performance Manager and Accredited Sports Scientist (Exercise and Sports Science Australia) and Strength and Conditioning Coach (Australian Strength and Conditioning Association and National Strength and Conditioning Association).

Governance and ethics expertise

Sophia is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). In 2016, she became the first woman to be elected to the Board of Directors of the Australian Strength and Conditioning Association. In addition, the breadth of her leadership, governance and advocacy experience includes contributing to various committees and roles with sport and non-sporting bodies ranging from the Australian Institute of Sport (National Quality Assurance Technical Committee) to Science in Australia Gender Equity (Chair and Panel Member for Athena SWAN Award). She also has significant experience within the University sector, including numerous years of service as Deputy Chair of Human Research Ethics Committee and Athena SWAN Committee for gender equity. She approaches decision-making using an ethical framework where one seeks to make balanced, informed decisions based on knowledge and information and alignment to ones values. Her multidisciplinary domain knowledge, governance and ethics experience, paired with skills as an orator and lived experience enables her to passionately advocate for women of colour, LGBTQA+ people, and historically marginalised groups to enhance their representation in science, technology, engineering, and particularly high-performance sports positions.