Frank Fenner
Frank Fenner FAA | |
---|---|
Born | Frank Johannes Fenner 21 December 1914 |
Died | 22 November 2010[1] | (aged 95)
Nationality | Australian |
Other names | Frank John Fenner (after 1938) |
Education | University of Adelaide |
Occupation | Virology |
Employer | Australian National University |
Known for | Eradication of smallpox Control of Australia's rabbit plague |
Spouse | Ellen Margaret Bobbie Roberts |
Parent(s) | Albert Charles Fenner and Emma Louise "Peggy" Hirt |
Frank John Fenner
The Australian Academy of Science awards annually the prestigious Fenner Medal for distinguished research in biology by a scientist under 40 years of age.[4][5]
Early life and education
Frank Johannes Fenner was born in
Career
In May 1937, Fenner was a member of an Adelaide University anthropological expedition to
From 1940 to 1946 he was a captain and Major in the
Following his war-time service he was recruited by
.In 1949, he received a fellowship to study at the
In Canberra, 1949–2010
Returning to Australia in 1949, he was appointed professor of microbiology at the new John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University, Canberra. Here he began studying viruses again, in particular the myxoma virus.[citation needed]
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s Australia had severe
From 1967 to 1973 Fenner was Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research. In 1977, he was named the chairman of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication, the same year the last known case of naturally transmitted smallpox occurred in Somalia. Fenner announced the eradication of smallpox to the World Health Assembly on 8 May 1980.[6] This success story is regarded as the greatest achievement of the World Health Organization. Before its eradication, smallpox was one of the world's most virulent viruses, responsible for millions of deaths, and leaving many of the victims who survived with disfiguring scars for life.
Fenner had an abiding interest in the environment, and was the foundation Director of the Centre for Resources and Environmental Studies at the ANU (1973), where he worked until his retirement in 1979, and which became part of the Fenner School of Environment and Society in 2007.[10] He was a keen supporter of Australia having an ecologically, socially sustainable population. He was emeritus professor at the John Curtin School of Medical Research.
In June 2010, he predicted in an interview with
He died in Canberra on the morning of 22 November 2010 after a brief illness, and days after the birth of his first great-grandchild.[13]
Personal life
In 1944 Fenner met Bobbie Roberts. Ellen Margaret 'Bobbie' Roberts was a trained midwife and nurse. During World War II she worked on malaria with the Australian Army Nursing Service and through her work met Fenner.[14] Shortly after they met they married in a Catholic ceremony (despite Fenner being an atheist).[15] While keen to have children, the couple were infertile and with Bobbie having a hysterectomy in 1949 they decided to adopt. They subsequently adopted two children. Marilyn Aldus Fenner was born on 27 June 1950. Her biological parents were unknown. Victoria Fenner (born 1 March 1943) was adopted later at the request of her father (Fenner's younger brother Tom) after the death in a fire of Victoria's mother (Beverley Slaney).[16]
On 30 March 1958, Victoria Fenner shot and killed herself, as part of a supposed suicide pact with another child,
Bobbie Fenner was diagnosed with cancer in 1989 and eventually died in 1994. Marilyn Fenner and her family then moved into the family home and looked after her father until his death.[19]
Publications
- Frank Fenner and ISBN 0521049911
- Fenner, Frank; Wittek, Riccardo; Dumbell, Keith R. (1988). The Orthopoxviruses. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-323-15022-4.
Honours
Of the many honours Fenner received throughout his career, there are the following:
- Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE), 19 July 1945[8][9]
- Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) 12 June 1976, in recognition of service to medical research[20]
- The Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture of the Australian Academy of Science, 1985[21]
- The Japan Prize (Preventive Medicine), 1988 (with Donald Henderson and Isao Arita)
- Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) 26 January 1989, in recognition of service to medical science, to public health and to the environment[22]
- Copley medal of the Royal Society, 1995
- Albert Einstein World Award of Science, 2000[23]
- Clunies Ross Lifetime Contribution National Science and Technology Award, 2002
- Both the Frank Fenner building which houses the ANU Medical School and Faculty of Science, and a residential college Fenner Hall are named in honour of Frank Fenner.
- WHOMedal
- ANZAAS Medal(1980)
- ANZAC Peace Prize
- Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture, 1967
- Britannica Australia Award for Medicine
- 2002 Prime Minister's Prize for Science
- ACT Senior Australian of the Year 2005
- The federal Division of Fraser, named for Jim Fraser, was renamed after Frank Fenner for the 2016 general election. This was due to the AEC's plans to name a seat in Victoria in honour of deceased Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser.[24][25]
References
- PMID 21209651.
- Donald A. Henderson, Isao Arita, Zdeněk Ježek, Ivan D. Ladnyi Smallpox and its Eradication World Health OrganizationGeneva, 1988
- S2CID 71415413.
- ^ "Australian Academy of Science – Fenner medal". Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
- ^ "UWA scientist wins Academy Award".
- ^ a b c d Grimes, William (25 November 2010). "Frank Fenner Dies at 95; Tracked End of Smallpox". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "Nepabunna, 1937–39". SA Memory. State Library of South Australia. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
- ^ a b It's an Honour: MBE
- ^ a b Citation record of MBE
- ^ Fenner School of Environment and Society website
- ^ Jones, Cheryl (15 June 2010). "Fenner sees no hope for humans". The Australian.
- ^ Edwards, Lin (23 June 2010). "Humans will be extinct in 100 years says eminent scientist". Phys.org. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
- ^ "Scientist Fenner dies aged 95". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Australian Science
- ^ Chapter 3, Nature, Nurture and Chance: the lives of Frank and Charles Fenner
- ^ Chapter 5, Nature, Nurture and Chance: the lives of Frank and Charles Fenner
- ^ Suicide Finding in Death of Girl 15 in Canberra, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 June 1958, p3
- ^ Chapter 5, Nature, Nurture and Chance: the lives of Frank and Charles Fenner
- ^ Chapter 11, Nature, Nurture and Chance: the lives of Frank and Charles Fenner
- ^ It's an Honour: CMG
- ^ "Macfarlane Burnet Medal and Lecture". Australian Academy of Science. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ It's an Honour: AC
- ^ "World Cultural Council / Winners – Science – Frank Fenner". Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ Ross, Peake (24 November 2015). "Jon Stanhope appalled by ACT federal seat renamed from Fraser to Fenner". canberratimes.com.au. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ Holt, Stephen (19 October 2015). "Voters call out AEC on Fraser electorate renaming". smh.com.au. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
External links
- Online Guide to Records at the South Australian Museum Archives
- Australian Academy of Science—Interview with Professor Frank Fenner
- EmerProfessor Frank Fenner's Webpage at JCMSR
- Australian War Memorial Honours and Awards Database[permanent dead link]
- Stephen Boyden; Robert Blanden; Cedric Mims. "Frank John Fenner 1914–2010" (PDF). Biographical memoirs. Australian Academy of Science. Originally published in Historical Records of Australian Science, vol.24, no.1, pp. 109–133, 2013.