LEGACY HONOURED AWARDS & ORATIONS

The marvellous microbiologists behind our awards and orations.

Naming an award or an oration after someone is usually about celebrating a career and a contribution to a discipline or an institution. Since its formation in 1959 the Australian Society for Microbiology has played an important role in the careers of many Australian microbiologists who in turn, have advanced the discipline and played significant roles in building the society.
The following short summaries are about the microbiologists after whom our awards and orations have been named: Sydney Rubbo, Frank Fenner, David White, Nancy Millis, Lyn Gilbert and Jim Pittard. The authors were speakers in a recent History symposium that was part of the program of the ASM annual scientific meeting held in Adelaide in 2025.  The summaries are in the order in which the awards  were created.

Sydney Datillo Rubbo (1911-1969)

The Rubbo Oration is given each year at the annual scientific meeting of ASM, alternating between an eminent local and overseas speaker.

Sydney Rubbo was named after the city in which he was born and his father, Antonio Datillo Rubbo, an Italian artist who had emigrated to Australia in 1897. After completing a B.Sc at the University of Sydney he obtained a Diploma of Bacteriology and Ph.D at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. On his return to Australia he was appointed a senior lecturer at the Department of Bacteriology at the University of Melbourne where he taught medical, dental and agricultural science students. He was described a s a brilliants and provocative lecturer. In 1943 he completed a medical degree and the following year was appointed Professor of Bacteriology. Rubbo’s greatest achievement was said to be the rapid development of the department into the largest and best in Australia, housed in a new Estste of the art building that was completed in 1964 after 20 years of persistent effort. He built a strong team of teachers and researchers whose students populated many Australian and obverseas laboratories. His special field of interest was Sterilisation and Disinfection.
Rubbo was a founding member of ASM. He chaired the inaugural meeting in 1959 and was the second President of the society from 1960-61. He was well known and respected both within and outside scientific and academic communities . He was a strong campaigner in areas of public health particularly vaccination. He was highly critical of the lack of adequate government research funding. His premature death prompted the establishment of a trust that commissioned a bronze sculpture and the funding of an  annual oration. The Rubbo Oration is the high point of the ASM annual scientific meeting combining a stimulating presentation with a relaxed social function something totally in character with Rubbo’s love of scholarship, conversation and good food and wine.

Frank John Fenner (1914-2010)

Ipek Kurtboke
School of Science , Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast. QLD. 4558

The Frank Fenner award recognises distinguished contributions in any area of Australian research by scientists in a formative stage of their career.

Frank Fenner was born in Ballarat, Victoria in 1914. His family moved to South Australia  in 1916 and he graduated in Medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1938.  From 1940-1946 he served  in the Australian Army Medical Corps in Palestine, Egypt, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Borneo as a medical officer specialising in the treatment of Malaria. He received an Order of the British empire for his distinguished service in PNG. After the war he worked at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Researching Melbourne as a virologist. During a distinguished career his work was instrumental to the eradication of smallpox, and, through the introduction of Myxoma Virus, the rabbit plague.
In 1949 he moved to the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research in New York, where he worked on Buruli ulcer. After returning to Australia he was appointed Professor of Microbiology at the John  Curtin School of Medical research at the Australian National University in Canberra , ACT. In 1977 he was named the Chairman of the Global Commission for the certification of Smallpox eradication and in 1980 he announced to the General Assembly of the UN that this had been achieved. This is still regarded by the World Health Organisation as one of its greatest successes. Both the ASM and the Australian Academy of Science present Fenner awards to distinguished Australian researchers. 

David Ogilvie White (1931-2004)

Senaka Ranadheera
School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville VIC 3010.

The David White award recognises excellence and /or innovation in the teaching of Microbiology in Australia.
David White was born in Canberra, ACT in 1931. After graduating in Medicine from the University of Sydney in 1954 he completed his Ph.D on Influenza  at the ANU in 1958. He joined the Dept of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne  as a lecturer and pioneered the field of Virology. He served as Professor of Microbiology from 1967-1994  in addition to serving as Head of Dept and Pro-ViceChancellor. His significant contribution to the field of Virology includes more than one hundred research papers, six books and the supervision of thirty seven Honours students and twenty Ph.D students. He was a passionate Microbiology educator and held executive positions on many national scientific committees and professional societies.He was President of ASM from 1988-1990.His many honours included becoming ann Officer of the Order of Australia in 1992. Both the University of Melbourne and ASM present David White awards to academics for teaching excellence.

Alfred James (Jim) Pittard

Julian Rood
Infection Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute & Dept.of Microbiology, Monash University

The Jim Pittard award recognises distinguished contributions in any area of Australian research in Microbiology by scientists in early stages of their career.

Jim Pittard was born in Ballarat in 1932 and educated at Ballarat Grammar. He completed a Diploma in Pharmacy in 1954 and after working for a while as a pharmacist completed a B.Sc at the University of Melbourne in 1958. He went on to do an M.Sc in Frank Gibson’s laboratory in 1960 and then a Ph.D in Ed Adelberg’s group at Yale University in 1963. He returned to Australia to take up a lectureship in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Melbourne where he  stayed until his retirement in 1998. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1966 and awarded a chair in Microbiology in 1970. Recognition of his outstanding research career and contribution to Australian science is evident from the honours that included Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA) in 1974, Lemberg medallist of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1991, ASM Life Member 1998and a Member of the order of Australia (AM) in 2001. His research interests focussed on the genetics annd regulation of aromatic acid biosynthesis and the biology of antibiotic resistance plasmids. He made outstanding contributions to both fields and probably has more papers in the prestigious Journal of Bacteriology than any other Australian researcher. He played a major role in the establishment of the processes by which recombinant DNA technology is regulated in Australia and served on numerous ARC and NHMRC grant committees. Most importantly he was an outstanding mentor of young researchers. His office door was always open and he was renowned for giving freely of his time ands providing honest snd exceptionally sage advice to his students , postdocs and colleagues. ASM could not have chosen a more suitable person to honour in having  an early career researcher award named after him.

Nancy Fanny Millis (1922-2012)

Jenny Davis
Retired microbiologist with a background in public health. Community radio broadcaster.

The ASM Nancy Millis mentoring program is an annual program of events for students at the ASM annual scientific meeting. The ASM Nancy Millis student awards provide students with the opportunity to attend and give an oral presentation at the ASM annual scientific meeting.

Nancy Millis once said that she had been the biggest opportunist ever. This self description encapsulates her  approach to life, as she grasped opportunities for learning and adventure , new ideas, sharing knowledge and leadership throughout her long, distinguished and productive career. Nancy introduced the teaching of industrial microbiology to the University  of Melbourne where she was one of the first women to be appointed Professor. On a national level Nancy played a key role in the Cooperative Research Centre for Water Quality and Treatment, and guided the successive committees responsible for overseeing the development of recombinant DNA research in Australia. This remarkable scientist was recognised in awards, appointments, lectures, scholarships, laboratories, buildings and even a postage stamp. However she is best remembered for het personal qualities- a lack of pretension, clear thinking, wit and an a forthright approach to problems. Colleagues and members of committees chaired by Nancy recall her wide breadth of knowledge  together with an enquiring mind and a sharp focus on the issues at hand. Students have memories of her generosity with her time, her encouragement of their questions and her deep and genuine interest in their progress. It is therefore fitting that she is honoured in the naming of the  ASM Nancy Millis Mentoring Program and the ASM Nancy Millis Student awards.

Gwendolyn (Lyn) Gilbert

Peter Traynor
Honorary life member ASM

The Lyn Gilbert award recognises major contributions in any area of diagnostic Microbiology in Australia.

Lyn Gilbert was born in 1942 and raised in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Her time at Camberwell High School was productive and in her final year she was dux of the school. She went on to study Medicine at the University of Melbourne and,after graduating in 1965, began to build a career as an eminent and highly respected  public health Microbiologist. Lyn became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1969 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologist of Australasia in 1977. She lectured to medical students at the University of Melbourne from 1975-1978 then accepted the position of Medical Microbiologist at the Royal Womens’ hospital from 1979-1984, and subsequently at the Royal Children's hospital from 1984-1990. In 1991 Lyn was appointed  the Director of Microbiology at the Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology (CIDM) , part of the Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR) at Westmead hospital in Sydney, and was appointed Clinical Professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney. In both roles her focus was on promoting research and development in public health microbiology. Over 25 years, she established an applied science research program in the prevention, diagnosis, surveillance and ethics of  infectious diseases of public health importance at Westmead that was supported by NHMRC project grants. Lyn was instrumental in establishing the national Public Health Laboratory Network (NPLN) and served as its first chair between 1997-2001. She was a member of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia (CDNA) from 1995-2009. , led the Australian  response for preparedness for Ebola in 2014 and undertook reviews of COVID-19 outbreaks in residential care facilities. Many more examples of her remarkable and dedicated service to the community could be listed. Lyn served as President of ASM from 2000-2002 and is a Honorary life member. She was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2023.

Cheryl Jean Power

Dept. Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne. Parkville. VIC 3010

The Cheryl Power award recognises excellence  and/or innovation in the teaching of microbiology in Australia by early career educators.

Cheryl Power was born in 1945 and educated at Croydon and Lilydale  High schools. Her headmaster at Lilydale was the uncle of David White who would subsequently be her head of department. She completed a B.Sc (1966) and an M.Sc (1969) in the department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne, followed by a Graduate  Diploma in Education (1989).
Between 1975 and 1989 she worked as a sessional demonstrator, tutor and lecturer, teaching to and learning from a wide variety of students enrolled in many different courses courses over several campuses including the University of Melbourne, RMIT, Monash University, Melbourne School of Nursing and Mayfield Education Centre. Her ability to make Microbiology relevant to different student cohorts was a skill learnt in this time that she drew on over the  ensuing years.
Her formal teaching career began as a Senior Tutor in the Microbiology department at the University of Melbourne in 1989 and over the next 30 years, as she progressed from Lecturer to Senior lecturer, she assumed responsibility for convening and teaching into many undergraduate courses in Microbiology for Science, Dental, Medical and Chemical Engineering students. Her particular love were the practical components of these undergraduate courses where students would be enthused for the subject by working in the laboratory and which also involved training post graduate students as demonstrators who subsequently learnt the joy of teaching. Cheryl was a passionate teacher  and won several teaching awards including the ASM David White award and a Carrick Citation. She was invited to attend  the Gordon Research conference to establish the US ASM Conference for undergraduate educators (ASMCUE) and regularly attended and presented at their meetings.
She was the Convenor of the ASM Education special interest group (EDSIG) from 1994 -2008 and was responsible for organising Teaching symposia for the annual scientific meetings . She was instrumental in the establishment of EduCon. As Vice President Corporate Affairs she was a member of the ASM Executive from 2010-2018.
Cheryl is an Honorary life member of the society and a member of the Editorial board.