Science and Technology/Australian History
Book Details

Diversity and Discovery

The History of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, 1965-1996

Sir Gustav Nossal

The history one of Australia's foremost medical research centres from 1965 to 1996, related by it then director, Sir Gustav Nossal.

Opinion

“Sir Gustav Nossal has written a memoir of his 30-odd years as director of the Hall Institute, from the mid-1960s to the mid-’90s, detailing its expansion, its many triumphs, and its occasional set-backs and frustrations. This is an inspiring story of a local institution punching well above its weight in the international arena.”
Cosmos, 01/07/2007

“Diversity and Discovery is a fine record of an exciting period in Australian biomedical research.”
Cosmos, 01/07/2007

About this Title

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne is at the forefront of Australian and worldwide medical research. Its stratospheric advances in medical research between 1965 and 1996 coincided with the tenure of Director, Sir Gustav Nossal. As both a participant and a keen observer, Nossal brings to life the exhilaration and the frustration of this revolutionary era in Diversity and Discovery: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, 1965-1996.

Under Nossal's directorship, the institute underwent tumultuous changes, growing significantly in size, reputation and research scope. In 1965, Nossal had inherited the leadership of the Institute from Nobel Prize-winner Sir Macfarlane Burnet. The Institute was world renowned intellectually but was decidedly inferior in its physical condition-to the profound shock of many visiting foreign scientists. Rectifying that situation in order to keep the Institute in the world's front rank would absorb much of Nossal's time and energy. This crusade for science culminated in the commitment of Australian governments to fund a new and state-of-the-art Institute building during the depths of an economic recession. Such was the persuasive power of the distinctive Nossal charm in full flight.

In its stunning new home, the Institute made impressive progress in research into immune responses; the regulators of blood cell production and the introduction of molecular biology, which brought with it insights into antibody production and the onset of leukaemia; and advanced the understanding of combating malaria-advances that have brought and will continue to bring immense benefits to patients worldwide.

Nossal himself acquired a formidable reputation as an articulate and passionate public advocate for science and as a communicator to the wider world, enthusing millions of people in his inimitable style.

Diversity and Discovery: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, 1965-1996 showcases Australian medical research at its best.

**See cover copy in WIP for a list of WEHI’s five most prominent medical advances between 1965 and 1996.

About the Author

Sir Gustav Nossal is one of Australia's most respected medical researchers and humanitarians. He was born in Austria in 1931 and along with his family emigrated in 1939 in the wake of the German occupation. The family settled in Sydney, Australia, where Gustav attended St Aloysius' College and studied medicine at The University of Sydney. In 1957, he undertook postgraduate work at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, later becoming Director at the extraordinarily young age of thirty-four. His research has focused on fundamental immunology and he has published widely in the area. He has attracted many supreme honours from Australia and the world at large. Notably, he was knighted in 1977, appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1989 and Australian of the Year in 2000. He remains deeply committed to humanitarian causes, including his work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health Organization-a particular focus being childhood vaccination in the developing world.

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978-0-522-85117-5