Hedley Duncan Wright becomes the first Bosch Professor of Bacteriology in 1930
From Faculty of Medicine Online Museum and Archive
In 1930 the Bosch bequest endowed the first Chair of Bacteriology in an Australian University, with Hedley Duncan Wright taking up the foundation Professorship. Wright was Tasmanian born and had studied medicine at Edinburgh University after completing a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Tasmania. Wright graduated MB ChM in 1916 having interrupted his studies to serve as a dresser in the Scottish Red Cross Unit with the Serbian Army in the First Balkan War. After initial hospital training he enlisted with the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving in France, India and the North-West Frontier during World War One. In 1918 he gained the position of Researcher at University College, London, in which he remained until 1930. His early work during this time, Tick Fever in East Persia (1920), showed an early interest in infectious disease. His major work at University College was concerned with the problems of endocarditus and pnumococcal septicaemia. Wright was took up the Chair of Bacteriology in 1930 and remained at the University of Sydney for five years. During his time here he did much work towards planning the Blackburn Building and developing the curriculum, his work stressing the role of research in pure science to the study of disease.[1]
- Next article in timeline: Sir Harold Dew becomes the first Bosch Professor of Surgery in 1931