We do not usually use editorials to announce changes in our team but we hope that you, our readers, will agree that this is appropriate. On August 31st 2024, Professor Peter Thompson stepped down from his position as the longest standing Editor-in-Chief of the journals Perception and i-Perception.
Peter was invited to this role in 1997 by Perception's founder, the late Professor Richard Gregory. By that time it was already clear that Perception was close to Peter's heart with his 1980 publication having become a journal classic. Its title, ‘Margaret Thatcher: A new illusion’, has a typical Thompson-esque ring (Thompson, 1980). The paper has been cited over five hundred times but the real impact of this work has been much wider with variations appearing all over the internet and admired by lay-people and scientists alike. Search for ‘The Thatcher Illusion’ and you will find numerous examples of ‘Thatcherised’ famous people. Indeed, Peter's publication added a new verb to the English language, or a new meaning at least (e.g., see the Wictionary entry) and, of course, threw a spotlight on the journal (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Professor Peter Thompson and his wife Karen on a trip to Venice.
Under Thompson's watch both journals have done remarkably well, particularly given the immense competition in today's publishing world. For Perception, the impact factor has stabilised, and for i-Perception it is now the highest of the specialist journals for perception and/or vision science.
As most readers will know, Perception has a strong and long-established link with the European Conference on Visual Perception (ECVP), providing ongoing sponsorship for the annual inaugural presentation: the prestigious Perception Lecture. Another tradition has been for Peter to thank the conference organisers in an after dinner speech at the banquet. His observational wit and warm words of support are always well received. So much so that ECVP has grown to a conference of more than 800 delegates, vision scientists from across the globe no doubt flocking to catch Peter's latest!
And so here we thank Peter for his many years of excellent service and work for both journals. The board will miss his dedication and expertise, his jokes, and especially his wisdom and pragmatic views on so many matters.
Peter will not be leaving us completely, as he will be taking up a new role as a member of the consulting board, adding to his extensive track record with the journals and the field of perception science. While we will miss Peter in our work with authors, reviewers, editors and Sage, we are confident that his successor, Isabelle Mareschal, will take good care of his legacy. Isabelle is Professor in Visual Cognition at the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences of Queen Mary University of London. Please join us in making her feel welcome (Figure 2).
Figure 2.
Professor Isabelle Mareschal is joining the Editor-in-Chiefs.
Footnotes
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ORCID iDs: Frans A.J. Verstraten https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5487-1755
Timothy S. Meese https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3744-4679
Annabelle S. Redfern https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8864-0157
Pascal Mamassian https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1605-4607
Contributor Information
Frans A.J. Verstraten, The University of Sydney, Australia
Timothy S. Meese, Aston University, UK
Annabelle S. Redfern, University of Bristol, UK
Pascal Mamassian, École Normale Supérieure, CNRS, France.
Reference
- Thompson P. (1980). Margaret Thatcher: A new illusion. Perception, 9(4), 483–484. 10.1068/p090483 [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]