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The history of science, pure and applied, in Australia, New Zealand and the southwest Pacific
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EDITORIAL (Open Access)
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John Atherton Young 1936–2004

Ian D. Rae https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7579-3717 A *
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A School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.

* Correspondence to: iandrae@bigpond.com

Historical Records of Australian Science https://doi.org/10.1071/HR24007
Published online: 29 May 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Academy of Science. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

John Atherton Young (1936–2004) graduated in medicine at the University of Queensland and undertook research in physiology at the Kanematsu Institute in Sydney for which he was awarded his PhD. After postdoctoral studies in Germany, he joined the department of physiology at the University of Sydney, rising to professor, then Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and finally Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Health Sciences. His research on the physiology of epithelial ducts, beginning with those of the kidney but later centring on salivary glands and the pancreas, brought him international recognition as a leader in the field. He made significant contributions to professional societies and was recognised with international and national awards including membership of the Order of Australia. A bronze portrait head of Young by sculptor Dan Lake is displayed in the foyer of the Edward Ford building at the University of Sydney. He was a man of great culture, a witty conversationalist and a great scientist.

Keywords: Atherton, Berlin, biochemistry, epithelial, governance, Kanematsu, kidney, physiology.

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