Biographical entry Fenner, Frank John (1914 - 2010)

Summary

Frank Fenner was Director of the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University (ANU), Canberra 1973-1979. Earlier he was Professor of Microbiology 1949-1967, and Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research 1967-1973 at ANU. Fenner was known for his work in the eradication of smallpox and controlling Australia's rabbit plague.

Details

Events

1938

Education - Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BS) completed at the University of Adelaide

1940

Education - DTM completed at the University of Sydney

1940 - 1946

Career position - Served in Egypt and New Guinea as an officer of the Australian Army Medical Corps

1942

Education - Doctor of Medicine (MD) completed at the University of Adelaide

1944

Award - Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE, military)

1946 - 1948

Career position - Haley Research Fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

1948 - 1949

Career position - Rockefeller Travelling Fellow

1949

Award - David Syme Research Prize received from the University of Melbourne

1949 - 1967

Career position - Professor of Microbiology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra

1954

Award - Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA)

1958

Award - Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), London

1959

Award - Walter Burfitt Prize received from the Royal Society of New South Wales

1964

Award - Mueller Medal received from the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

1964 - 1965

Career position - President of the Australian Society for Microbiology

1967

Award - Matthew Flinders Medal received from the Australian Academy of Science

1967

Award - Brittanica Australia Award for Medicine Received

1967 - 1973

Career position - Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Canberra

1973 - 1979

Career position - Director of the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Australian National University, Canberra

1976

Award - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)

1977

Career position - Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences

1977 - 1980

Career position - Chairman of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication, World Health Organization (WHO)

1980

Award - ANZAC Peace Prize received

1980

Award - ANZAAS Medal received (Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science)

1980 - 2010

Career position - Emeritus Professor and Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, Canberra

1981 - 1985

Career position - Chairman of the Committee on Orthopoxvirus Infections, World Health Organization (WHO)

1983

Career position - Florey Lecture given at the Royal Society, London

1985

Award - Burnet Lecture presented to the Australian Academy of Science

1988

Award - WHO Medal received

1988

Award - Japan Prize received

1989

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC)

1994

Career position - Frank Fenner Medal established to honour the most outstanding PhD thesis submitted each year in the John Curtin School of Medical Research

1995

Award - Copley Medal received from the Royal Society, London

1999

Award - Senior Australian Achiever of the Year award received

2000

Award - Albert Einstein World Award for Science received

2002

Award - Clunies Ross Lifetime Contribution Award received

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Frank John Fenner - Records, 1920 - 2010, MS 143; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

South Australian Museum Archives

• Frank John Fenner - Records, 1890 - 1951, AD 34; South Australian Museum Archives. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science Exhibitions

• Smith, Ailie, Adolph Basser Library Manuscript Collection, eScholarship Research Centre, 2012, http://www.eoas.info/basser_browse.html. Details

Books

• Fenner, Frank and Curtis, David, The John Curtin School of Medical Research: the First Fifty Years, 1948-1998, Brolga Press, Gundaroo, New South Wales, 2001, 565 (577) pp. Details
• Fenner, Frank and Fantini, B., Biological Control of Vertebrate Pests: the History of Myxomatosis, an Experiment in Evolution, CABI Publishing, Wallingford, 1999, 351 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Burnet, Frank Macfarlane; Fenner, Frank, 'The Production of Antibodies', in Debra Jan Bibel (ed.), Milestones in Immunology: A Historical Exploration, Science Tech, London, 1988, pp. 181-184. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Medicine and Medical Science', in T. B. Millar (ed.), The Australian Contribution to Britain: Papers of a Conference at the Royal Society, 7-8 June 1988, Australian Studies Centre, London, 1988, pp. 20-40. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Fairley, Sir Neil Hamilton (1891-1966), Physician, Medical Scientist and Army Officer', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 14, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1996, pp. 128-131. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140139b.htm. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Gottschalk, Alfred (1894-1973), Medical Scientist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 14, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1996, pp. 302-303. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140341b.htm. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Florey, Howard Walter, Baron Florey of Adelaide and Marston (1898-1968), medical scientist', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 14, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1996, pp. 188-190. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A140202b.htm. Details
• Fenner, Frank; De Burgh, P.M., 'Ward, Hugh Kingsley (1887-1972), Bacteriologist', in John Ritchie and Diane Langmore (eds), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 16, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2002, pp. 488-489. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160580b.htm. Details

Edited Books

• Fenner, Frank (ed.), The First Twenty-five Years; the Australian Academy of Science [1954-1979], The Academy, Canberra, 1980. Details
• Fenner, Frank (ed.), History of Microbiology in Australia, Australian Society for Microbiology, Melbourne, 1990, 624 pp. Details
• Fenner, Frank (ed.), The First Fifty Years, Australian Academy of Science, Canberra, 2005, 549 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Fenner, F., 'Frank Macfarlane Burnet, 1899-1985', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 7, no. 1, 1987, pp. 39-77. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9870710039.htm. Details
• Fenner, F., 'Adventures with Pox Viruses of Vertebrates', FEMS Microbiology Review, vol. 24, no. 2, 2000, pp. 123-133. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Scientific Societies in Australia. The Australian Academy of Science', The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Proceedings, vol. 27, July, 1960, pp. 289-294. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Obituary: Howard Walter Florey: Baron of Adelaide and Marston', Australian Journal of Science, vol. 31, no. 1, 1968, pp. 37-39. Details
• Fenner, Frank, 'Smallpox, 'the most dreadful scourage of the human species'', Medical Journal of Australia, 1984, pp. 728-735. Details
• Fenner, Frank and Harris, S.F., 'Herbert Cole Coombs 1906-1997', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 13, no. 1, 2000, pp. 67-81. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR0001310067.htm. Details

Newspaper Articles

• Dayton, Leigh, 'Frank Fenner, who eradicated smallpox and ended rabbit plague, dead at 95', The Australian, 23 November 2010. Also available at http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/the-man-who-killed-smallpox-dies-at-95-20101122-1845h.html. Details
• Smith, Bridie, 'The man who killed smallpox dies at 95', The Age, 23 November 2010. Also available at http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/the-man-who-killed-smallpox-dies-at-95-20101122-1845h.html. Details

Reviews

• Mulvaney, John, review of Fenner, Frank (ed.), The First Fifty Years (2005), Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 16, no. 2, 2005, pp. 249-251. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=HR05012.pdf. Details

Online Resources

• 'Fenner, Frank John - Ms 143', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms143.html. Details
• 'Frank Fenner - helped eradicate smallpox', in The 1997 Australian Science Festival, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/other/asf_scientists.htm#frank. Details
• 'Frank Fenner, Enemy of Rabbite, Dies', in ABC Rural News, 22 November 2010, http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201011/s3073081.htm. Details
• Blythe, Max, Interview with Professor Frank Fenner, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 13 September 1993, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/f/ff.html. Details
• Fenner, Frank, Interview with Professor Jacques Miller, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 27 October 1999, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/m/jm.html. Details
• Fenner, Frank, Interview with Dr Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 23 September 1999, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/t/htb.html. Details
• Fenner, Frank, Interview with Professor Gordon Ada, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 13 September 1993, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/a/ga.html. Details
• Fenner, Frank, Interview with Professor Stephen Boyden, Interviews with Australian scientists, Australian Academy of Science, 2003, http://www.science.org.au/scientists/interviews/b/sb.html. Details
• 'Fenner, Frank', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-468266. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_f.html. Details
• Walsh, A. and Willis, J. B., 'Albert Lloyd George Rees 1916-1989', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 9, no. 1, 1992, pp. 31-47. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9920910031.htm. Details