Meet our Alumni

A specialist in cancer prevention, Dr Nigel Gray is among Australia's leaders in public health and is internationally recognised for his advocacy on tobacco control. Gray studied medicine at The University of Melbourne, specialising in the study of infectious diseases. He then worked at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, becoming Deputy Director and Acting Director.

In 1968 he was appointed as Director of the Cancer Council Victoria. The link between tobacco and cancer was not well known at that time and Gray was the only person in Australia then employed to promote cancer prevention. Gray almost single-handedly brought cancer prevention to the notice of politicians and the public, promoting programs on skin protection and to quit smoking. These programs have since saved thousands of lives.

In 1974 Gray chaired a global program for tobacco control on behalf of the Union Internationale Contre Le Cancer (International Union Against Cancer) and in 1992 he was elected President of the international body.

In 1994 he was honoured as an Officer of the Order of Australia for service in preventative medicine. Gray's influence as a tobacco control advocate has also been recognised through several prestigious international awards.

In 2000 he became the first recipient of the American Cancer Society's Luther Terry Award and in 2005 he received the Joe Cullen Award from the International Society for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Now retired, he continues his work on tobacco control with the European Institute of Oncology and the International Agency for Research on Cancer. He also serves on the World Health Organisation's Study Group on Tobacco Regulation.