• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE0066

Cory, Suzanne

(1942 – )
  • Nationality Australian
  • Born 11 March, 1942, Melbourne Victoria Australia
  • Occupation Biochemist, Molecular oncologist

Summary

Suzanne Cory (AC FAA FRS) is an Australian molecular biologist of international renown. She has worked on the genetics of the immune system and cancer and has lobbied her country to invest in science.

She was Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research between 1996 and 2009, after spending eight years as Joint Head of the Molecular Biology Unit with her husband, Jerry Adams, before her appointment as Director.

In 1998 she received the Australia Prize, in 2001 the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science, followed by the Royal medal in 2002 and the Pearl Meister Greengard Prize in 2009. She was the first elected female President of the Australian Academy of Science and took office on 7 May 2010 for a four-year term. In 2011 the Suzanne Cory High School, a public high school that caters to 800 students from years 9-12, opened in Cory’s honour in 2011.

Details

Cory completed a Bachelor of Science (1964) and Master of Science (1965) at the University of Melbourne, before being awarded her PhD by Cambridge University in 1968.

Since then she has been nominated Queen Elizabeth II Fellow, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research 1972-74; Roche Fellow 1974-76; Research Fellow 1977; Senior Research Fellow 1978-83; Principal Research Fellow 1984-88; Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science 1986; Senior Principal Research Fellow and Joint Head, Molecular Biology Unit 1988-96; Director from 1996; International Research Scholar, Howard Hughes Medical Institute from 1992; Fellow of the Royal Society 1992; Research Professor of Molecular Oncology, University of Melbourne from 1993; Burnet Lecturer, Australian Academy of Science 1997; and Fellow, Royal Society of Victoria 1997.

Awards include the David Syme Prize, University of Melbourne 1982; the Avon Australia “Spirit of Achievement” Award 1992; the Lemberg Medal, Australian Society for Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 1995; and the Australia Prize 1998.

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Events

  • 2001 - 2001

    Inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll of Women

Published resources

Archival resources

  • National Library of Australia
    • [Biographical cuttings on Suzanne Cory, director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI), containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals]
  • National Library of Australia, Oral History and Folklore Collection
    • Suzanne Cory interviewed by Ragbir Bhathal in the Australian women scientists oral history project [sound recording]
  • National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
    • Papers of Ragbir Singh Bhathal, 1949-2006 (bulk 1996-1999) [manuscript]

Related entries


  • Related Concepts
    • Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science