Professor John Hay appointed Chair of QIMR

Professor Emeritus John Hay, AC has been appointed by the Queensland Government to chair the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Council.

“We are delighted with the recent appointment of Professor Hay,” said the Acting Chair Mr Christopher Coyne. “Professor Hay is one of Queensland’s greatest ambassadors for education and medical research and QIMR will benefit greatly from his guidance.”

“On behalf of the QIMR Council I would like to welcome Professor Hay. I look forward to working with him to achieve our mission of better health through medical research.”

Professor Hay will take the place of Sir Bruce Watson AC who chaired the QIMR Council from September 1998 and held that position until his retirement, due to ill health, on 17 October 2008.

“Sir Bruce’s passing on 1 November 2008 was a tremendous loss to QIMR. He was a great man who contributed much to the Institute and will be greatly missed,” said Mr Coyne.

Professor Hay was Vice Chancellor of The University of Queensland from 1996-2007. In that time he led the development of many major new research institutes including the Institute for Molecular Bioscience and the Queensland Brain Institute. He was also instrumental in securing funding for the Translational Research Institute to be built at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. He has led both Deakin University and the University of Queensland to be named Australian universities of the year by the Good Universities Guide.

According to QIMR’s Director, Professor Michael Good, “This appointment comes at an exciting time in QIMR’s history as we move into a period of accelerated growth. The new Smart State Medical Research Centre will accommodate 20 new research laboratories and attract an additional 400 scientists and students.”

“I would like to take this opportunity of not only welcoming Professor Hay but also thanking Chris Coyne for his excellent leadership over the past 11 months.”