Gustav Nossal

Sir Gustav Nossal
Nossal at the 5th World Conference of Science Journalists, 2007
Born	Gustav Victor Joseph Nossal (1931-06-04) 4 June 1931 Bad Ischl, Austria
Citizenship	Australia
Nationality	Australian, formerly Austrian
Fields	Immunology
Institutions	The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne
Alma mater	The University of Sydney
Known for	His contributions to the fields of antibody formation and immunological tolerance
Influences	Macfarlane Burnet
Influenced	Jacques Miller
Notable awards	Albert Einstein World Award of Science (1990)
Signature

Sir Gustav Victor Joseph Nossal, AC, CBE (born 4 June 1931) is a distinguished Australian research biologist. He is famous for his contributions to the fields of antibody formation and immunological tolerance.

Early life and education

Nossal's family was from Vienna, Austria. He was born four weeks prematurely in Bad Ischl while his mother was on holiday. His family left their home town of Vienna for Australia in 1939 following Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria. As his father's grandparents were Jewish, he was also considered Jewish and at risk of being sent to concentration camps. In an interview with Adam Spencer, Nossal noted that his father was not a professing Jew but of Jewish ethnicity as he had been baptised a Roman Catholic as a child. Nossal remarked that his father "therefore thought that he would be somewhat protected from the Holocaust-type situations. Of course, he hadn't properly read Mein Kampf. It was all spelt out there: if your four grandparents were Jewish, then you were Jewish."^[1] He was baptised and remains a practising Roman Catholic.^[2]

When he first attended school in Australia, Nossal spoke no English^[3] but he graduated from St Aloysius' College in 1947^[4] as the dux of the College.^[5] In 1948, he entered the Sydney Medical School, graduating later with first-class honours. At the age of 26, he left his job in Sydney and moved to Melbourne to work with Macfarlane Burnet in medical science at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and gained his Ph.D. degree in 1960.

Religious beliefs

On describing his views on religion Nossal said:

Career

Following the retirement of Macfarlane Burnet in 1965, at the age of 35 Nossal became director of Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, a position that he kept until 1996. In parallel, he was Professor of Medical Biology at the University of Melbourne. Nossal's research is in fundamental immunology, in the field of "antibody formation and immunological tolerance".^[6] He has written five books and 530 scientific articles in this and related fields.

Nossal has been President (1986-1989) of the 30,000-member world body of immunology, the International Union of Immunological Societies; President of the Australian Academy of Science (1994-1998); a member of the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) (1989 to 1998); and Chairman of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (1987-1996). He has been Chairman of the committee overseeing the World Health Organization's Vaccines and Biologicals Program (1993-2002) and Chairman of the Strategic Advisory Council of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Children's Vaccine Program (1998-2003). He was Deputy Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation from 1998 to 2000. He is Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Global Foundation,^[7] The purpose of the foundation is to "encourage Australia’s sustainable national development in a global context." Sir Gustav is a member of the Patrons Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria and of the Advisory Board of the Health Impact Fund.

Personal life

Nossal is married to Lyn whom he met and later married on completion of his medical course at the University of Sydney. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren.^[8][9]

Awards and recognition

• 1970 – Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to medical research^[10]
• 1977 – Knighted for his ground-breaking work in immunology^[11][5][2]
• 1982 – Awarded the ANZAAS Medal^[12]
• 1989 – Appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia for his service to medicine, to science and to the community^[13]
• 1990 – Awarded the Albert Einstein World Award of Science ^[14]
• 1994 – Awarded James Cook Medal ^[15]
• 1996 – Won the Koch Gold Medal,^[16] the prize being awarded for prizes for major advances in biomedical sciences, particularly in the fields of microbiology and immunology.
• 1997 – Listed as one of the 100 Australians identified as Australia's Living National Treasures
• 2000 – Named as Australian of the Year^[17]
• 2001 – Recipient of the Centenary Medal for distinguished service to the study of antibody formation and immunological tolerance^[18]
• 2002 – Nossal was featured on an Australian postage stamp^[19]
• 2006 – Inducted as an honorary member of the Monash University Golden Key Society
• 2007 – The Nossal Institute for Global Health^[20] at the University of Melbourne was named in honour of Nossal
• 2009 – The Nossal High School, located at the Berwick campus of Monash University, is named in honour of Nossal
• 2010 – Awarded the Inaugural Monash Medal as an Outstanding Australian for his contribution to the Australian community and beyond
• 2012 – Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award

See also

• List of Australian of the Year Award recipients

References

External links

• Short biography
• Gustav Nossal – Virology Down Under
• 1987 interview and 1998 interview on the Australian Academy of Science website.
• The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization—a millennial challenge
• Liz Cincotta. "Passage to Australia". The Age, 19 June 2008.
• Video of Gustav Nossal lecture on The 50-Year Revolution in Global Public Health, Sydney University, July 2008