The Mozart of Mathematics and gravitational waves guru in Honours roll

Australian honours for the ‘Mozart of Mathematics’, a gravitational waves detector, an allergist turned politician, and a journalist who put scientists on the radio.

It’s always both inspiring and reassuring to see scientists, medical researchers, innovators and their supporters recognised in the Kings Birthday Honours list.

This year’s highlights include:

• Adelaide-born Terence Tao AC – the child prodigy dubbed the ‘Mozart of Mathematics’ who, at 24, became the youngest promoted to full professor at UCLA. Per The New York Times, “many regard Tao as the finest mathematician of his generation”.
• Philanthropist Elisabeth Calvert-Jones AC, a former director of Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI).
• The late Dr Katie Allen AO – before she entered politics, Katie was a paediatric allergy clinician scientist, who led MCRI’s ‘HealthNuts’ study and the national standardisation of Infant Feeding Guidelines in order to reduce the development of food allergies.
• David Blair AO, The University of Western Australia – the experimental physicist who was part of the team that first detected gravitational waves nearly 100 years after Einstein predicted their existence. He founded the Gravity Discovery Centre and Observatory in Gingin, WA.
• Ryan Lister AM, UWA and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research – the genetics guru who teaches reprogrammed stem cells to forget their past. We worked with him in 2014 when he won a Prime Minister’s Prize for life science and again the following year when he won a 2015 Metcalf Prize from the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia.
• Shannan Keen OAM – The neuroscientist advocating for people with Locked-in Syndrome.

And we have to have a special mention for newly minted AO ABC Radio National’s Fran Kelly who, while not a scientist, has beautifully and insightfully interviewed many of the scientists we’ve pitched to her over the years.

Here are the science-related honours we’ve spotted. Congratulations all. Let us know any we’ve missed.

Companions (AC) in the General Division

• Elisabeth Janet CALVERT-JONES – For eminent service to philanthropy, to the arts, to medical research organisations, to the community, and to children and youth.
• Terence Chi-Shen TAO – For eminent service to the mathematical sciences, to the global mathematics community, and to tertiary education and academia.
• William David RAWLINSON – For eminent service to the medical sciences as a virologist, to clinical research and education, and to national and international public health.

Officers (AO) in the general division

• Katrina Jane ALLEN – For distinguished service to medical research as a paediatric allergist and gastroenterologist, and to the people and Parliament of Australia.
• Michael BERK, Deakin University – For distinguished service to epidemiology, to preventative medicine, to mental health, and to tertiary education.
• David Gerald BLAIR – For distinguished service to physics, to precision measurement science, to gravitational wave research, and to scientific education.
• Attila Joseph BRUNGS, Vice Chancellor of UNSW – For distinguished service to tertiary education leadership, to research and innovation, and to social justice and equity.
• Leo Gerard CARNEY – For distinguished service to optometric and vision sciences through research and clinical practice, to academia, and to tertiary education.
• Timothy Mark DAVIS – For distinguished service to medicine as a consultant physician, to clinical research into diabetes and infectious diseases, and to tertiary education.
• Richard Charles DOWELL – For distinguished service to audiology, to the development of the cochlear implant for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, and to tertiary education.
• Valsamma EAPEN – For distinguished service to psychiatry, to child and adolescent mental health, to neurodevelopmental research, and to tertiary education.
• Elizabeth Jane ELLIOTT – For distinguished service to paediatric medicine, to women’s health, and to medical and social understanding of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
• Timothy John ENTWISLE, former director of RBGV – For distinguished service to environmental conservation, to botanical sciences, to the media, to tertiary education, and to the community.
• Jozef GECZ – For distinguished service to human translational genetic science, to genomic research, to child health, and to neurodevelopmental disability.
•  David Addison HAIG – For distinguished service to international academic relations, to tertiary education, and to organismic and evolutionary biology.
• Justin Alastair KENARDY – For distinguished service to clinical psychology, to the understanding of traumatic stress, to governance roles, and to tertiary education.
• James White MCDOWELL – For distinguished service to public administration, to the defence capability industry, to science and technology, and to education governance.
•  Harold David MCINTYRE – For distinguished service to medicine as a clinician, to medical research and education, to policy development, and to allied health administration.
•  William Huxley MORGAN – For distinguished service to ophthalmology, to neuro-ophthalmic physiology, to space medicine and health, and to tertiary education.
• Michael Stephen ROBERTS – For distinguished service to pharmaceutical science and medicine, to the advancement of topical drug delivery, and to clinical toxicology research.
•  Claude Patrick ROUX – For distinguished service to forensic science, to technological development, to law enforcement, to ethics, and to tertiary education.
• Raymond SACKS – For distinguished service to otolaryngology, to clinical training, to tertiary education, and to governance roles.
• Margaret SCHNITZLER – For distinguished service to colorectal surgery, to research, to innovative surgical training, and to tertiary education.
• Hans Peter SOYER – For distinguished service to dermatology, to the diagnosis of skin cancer, to medical research and development, and to governance roles.
•  Andrew John SPENCER – For distinguished service to dentistry, to public health research and policy development, to oral epidemiology, and to tertiary education.

Members (AM) in the general Division

• Lynette Kay ABBOTT – For significant service to soil sciences, to primary industry and agricultural management, and to the community.
• Mariapia Alessandra DEGLI-ESPOSTI – For significant service to immunology, to microbiology, and to clinical research and education.
• Peter Ross ELLIOTT – For significant service to gastroenterology, and to fundraising for research into inflammatory bowel diseases.
• David Malcolm FINDLAY – For significant service to orthopaedic research, and to the Baptist Church in Australia.
• Zheng Xiang LI – For significant service to geoscience and Earth dynamics research, and to tertiary education.
• Ryan LISTER – For significant service to biochemistry, to genetic science, and to neuroscience.
• Helen MACKIE – For significant service to rehabilitation medicine, and to research and treatment of lymphoedema.
• Anthony Frederick MASTERS – For significant service to tertiary education and governance, and to chemical science.
• Warwick MIDDLETON – For significant service to psychiatric medicine, and to research into and treatment of complex traumagenic dissociation.
• John Kevin OLYNYK – For significant service to the health sciences, and to gastroenterology and hepatology.
• Konrad PESUDOVS – For significant service to optometry and ophthalmology research, and to clinical education and training.
• Trevor Gordon REDGRAVE – For significant service to physiology and molecular biology research, and to tertiary education.
• Michael John SOLOMON – For significant service to gastrointestinal surgery, to surgical outcomes research, and to the community.
• Rebecca Elizabeth SPINDLER – For significant service to conservation science, to wildlife reproduction research, and to biodiversity protection.
• Bernard Edward TUCH – For significant service to endocrinology, and to medical research.
• Stephen Rade ZUBRICK – For significant service to medical science and research, particularly in children’s and youth development.

Order of Australia Medals (OAM) in the general division

• Shannan Louise KEEN – For service to Locked-in Syndrome research.
• Alex LASLOWSKI – For service to medical science, and to anatomical pathology.
• Keir James REEVES –For service to tertiary education.
• Linton Drew STAPLES – For service to science, and to pest animal management.
• Mark Alexander WILLIAMS UNSW School of Psychiatry – For service to tertiary education.