Gustav Nossal

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Professor Sir Gustav Joseph Victor Nossal, AC, CBE, FRS, FAA (born June 4, 1931) is a distinguished Australian research biologist.

In 1977 he was knighted for his ground-breaking work in immunology and in 1989 was made a Companion of the Order of Australia. He was named Australian of the Year in 2000, and holds numerous international scientific awards and doctorates.

Gustav Nossal was born four weeks early in Bad Ischl, in Austria, while his mother was on holiday. Because his father was Jewish, the Nossal family left their home town of Vienna for Australia when he was eight years old. When he attended his first Australian school, he spoke no English but graduated from St Aloysius' College in 1947 as the dux of the College. In 1948, he entered Sydney University's Medical School, graduating with first class honours. At the age of 26, he left his job in Sydney and came to Melbourne to work with Macfarlane Burnet in Medical Science. Nossal gained his doctorate of Philosophy in 1960.

In 1965, at the age of 35, Nossal became director of The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, a position that he kept until 1996. In parallel, he was Professor of Medical Biology at Melbourne University.

He was also co-chair of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.