Monash residents have again featured prominently on the Australian honours list for their extraordinary contributions to society. CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS reports.
RESEARCH PROVES FERTILE
From counting lambs as a child in Broken Hill, John "Jock" Findlay has made a remarkable journey to being a leading medical researcher.
Professor Findlay, based at Prince Henry's Institute in Clayton, has been awarded one of Australia's highest honours, an Officer of the General Division of the Order of Australia, for his reproductive health research and for developing national and international health programs.
His main concern has been ovaries, exploring the mechanism of storing and releasing of eggs.
He said the work could lead to delaying the release of eggs, prolonging women's fertility and diffusing the effects of menopause.
In 2006, he received the Society for Endocrinology UK's highest award, the Dale Medal, for research that had changed scientific understanding in a fundamental way.
His earliest interest in fertility came when growing up on a Broken Hill sheep station, where he noted the birth patterns of the ewes.
"I wondered why some ewes had none, some had one [lamb], some had two and some had three. It was an intriguing question."
After failing engineering at university because of a weakness in mathematics, he studied agricultural science and returned to the question of reproductive biology for his PhD.
He has chaired a World Health Organisation advisory group for family planning programs in developing countries for 15 years. "There's this debate with climate change ... but the element missing is that we've got too many people on the earth."
HONOUR FOR CHARITY WORKER AIDING NEEDY SRI LANKANS
Founding member of a 25-year-old charity for destitute Sri Lankan families continues to be a tireless organiser for the cause.
Primrose Werkmeister of Wheelers Hill helped found Voluntary Outreach Club, which raises about $17,000 annually to support 70 needy households in Sri Lanka.
Today, she is recognised with a Medal in the General Division of the Order of Australia.
She became involved with the club after a 1982 holiday in Sri Lanka, where there is no pension or safety net for the poor.
The memory of a family living behind a bakery, using newspapers as a floor has remained with her.
She said the charity's provision of food and income continued to be vital.
Ms Werkmeister has headed the club's 19-member committee for a lot of its life - as president for three years, and vice-president (and often acting president) for 13 years.
"I've been determined to keep our good work going and not to let [the VOC] fold up," she says.
"I feel very fulfilled and very happy putting in hard work and doing something good to help people."
She has also been a board member and president of the Australia Ceylon Fellowship Association for 28 years.
TOP ENGINEER BUILDS BRIDGE TO GREATER SECURITY
A key moment in a Monash University researcher's career lies in a memorial at the Clayton campus - an installation of wreckage collected from the 1970 West Gate Bridge disaster.
Paul Grundy, today announced as a Member of the General Division of the Order of Australia, was part of a Monash University testing team that produced key evidence for a royal commission into the bridge disaster, which killed 35 workers.
The commission's findings, reached with the aid of the university's testing, ushered in new design and construction methods for the bridge's 1972 rebuilding.
Last week, Emeritus Professor Grundy said there had been a number of bridge collapses around the world at the time, leading to "heady times for change" in bridge design.
Even five years into retirement, he is giving advice on the planned M1 upgrade for an extra lane of traffic on the bridge and still delivers an annual lecture to engineering students to learn about the failures behind the 1970 disaster.
After the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, he chaired a joint working commission that produced a guide for disaster reduction on the coasts of the Indian Ocean.
Despite the clearly devastating impact of tsunamis, he said it was still hard to get governments to heed the commission's guidance.
"The events you're dealing with are rare and very severe and really destroy countries. It's difficult to get people to focus when there's other day-to-day policy to look after.
"It's been challenging to try and get an environment where people want to change."
FORMER ATHLETE HELPS OTHERS ACHIEVE THEIR POTENTIAL
Former Olympics competitor Trevor Vincent of Glen Waverley has been a nurturer of athletic talent since he retired from the sport.
Mr Vincent has been awarded a Medal in the General Division of the Order of Australia for his 50-year involvement as an athlete, selector and administrator.
His achievements include 14 state track titles and a gold medal in the 3000-metre steeplechase in the 1964 Perth Commonwealth Games. He has also been a state and national selector.
He helped plan Melbourne's Commonwealth Games in 2006 and was part of a national party to review the state of Australian athletics.
Mr Vincent said volunteering his services to athletics, such as acting as mentor to cross-country world champion Benita Johnson, was still a thrill.
Another passion is organising carnivals for people with disabilities and for East African refugees.
"I like to encourage young kids to get involved because it's such a great outlet. You try to give the best opportunity for them to realise their potential," he said.
"Athletics is not like team sport. There's more pressure on you as an individual. You depend on nobody else."
AND OTHER WINNERS
Louise Adler AM, publisher and Monash University council member
Grahame Leonard AM, board member of Monash University Foundation for Jewish Studies
Professor John McNeil AM, chair of Monash University Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
The Reverend Professor Victor Yu-Hei Yu AM, medical researcher and Monash Medical Centre neonatal intensive care director
Nancy Lawson OAM, founding member of the Monash Medical Centre Auxiliary
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