Emeritus Prof Bill Sawyer posthumously awarded a member of the Order of Australia (AM)
In the 2024 Australia Day Honours, the late Bill Sawyer was recognised for his significant service to tertiary education, and to biochemistry.
Bill Sawyer was a member of the University of Melbourne from 1968 to 2001. He made important contributions to research in biochemistry and biophysics, as well as to the training and career development of graduate researchers and early career researchers.
Bill was recognised internationally for his outstanding contributions to studies of cell membranes. He co-authored, Quantitative Characteristics of Ligand Binding, Wiley-Lis, 1995, and is cited in over 300 journals in Fluorescence Spectrometry. And was recently awarded the 2022 Lemberg Medal from the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
His love of academic life is captured in this quote:
As research and teaching academics, we are exposed to great minds, and become members of the most exclusive club in the world. Add these intangible assets to the intellectual satisfaction, and you have, I believe, an exceedingly attractive career.
Bill is a past president of the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, was a life member of Federation of Asian and Oceanian Biochemists and Molecular Biologist, former Ex-Officio Australian Representative, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, past president, Australian Society for Biophysics, former Executive Director, Biological Science and Biotechnology Program, Australian Research Council, former non-executive Director, Rothchild Bioscience, past Board Member, GBS Biosciences, past Board Member, St Vincent's Institute for Medical Research, past member, Patent and Intellectual Property Committee and founding member and convenor, Early Career Researchers Support Program.
Professor Leann Tilley (pictured far right) obtained her BSc(Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Melbourne working with Bill who she fondly remembers In Memoriam:
“What particularly impressed me, and many other colleagues, was his gentle nature and the bubbling ‘excited state’ of ideas that underpinned his quiet determination. It is a great privilege to have had Bill as a mentor and as a friend. Not only as he was an innovative and creative scientist, but also one of life’s true gentlemen.”
In 2013, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Melbourne established the Bill Sawyer Awards for excellence in the PhD program. The Bill Sawyer Medal will continue to highlight his great legacy each year.