2007 David de Kretser and Lifetime Achievement Medals awarded by Governor

December 06, 2007

Two leaders in the field of medical research were awarded the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences’ most prestigious community awards were presented by the Governor, Professor David de Kretser on December 4.

Retired Monash Professor of Physiology, Mollie Holman AO was awarded the 2007 David de Kretser Award for her exceptional contribution to the faculty spanning back to 1963.  The 2007 Lifetime Achievement Medal was presented to Professor Graeme Clark AC who has enabled people with deafness to hear through the development the bionic ear (cochlear implant) and other hearing devises.

Professor Holman’s research focused on the complex network of nerve cells that innervate the smooth muscle in the wall of the gut.  In 1970, she was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, in 1998 was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia and in 1999 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Monash University.  The inaugural Mollie Holman Doctoral Medal, named after her in honour of her distinguished contributions to postgraduate education, was awarded for the first time in 1998 for the best PhD thesis in each faculty.

The faculty’s Lifetime Achievement Medal is presented annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution, nationally and internationally to human health and well being.  The 2007 recipient Professor Graeme Clark is an Honorary Laureate Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Department of Otolaryngology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

Professor Clark said at the Government House ceremony that his own father’s deafness was the catalyst for his determination to enable the deaf to hear.   He led the team that created the world’s first cochlear implant and other devices including the electrotactile hearing aid, the “Tickle Talker”.  His work has positively changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.  Therefore, Professor Clark is a most worthy recipient of the faculty’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Recipient list

David de Kretser Award

Lifetime Achievement Award