Meet our Alumni

Sir James Barrett was a highly prominent figure in Melbourne's medical and academic communities. Barrett studied medicine at The University of Melbourne. There he became the first secretary of Melbourne's Medical Students Society in 1880.

At the Melbourne Hospital and then at King's College London he studied the nature and causes of eye disease. On his return to Australia he set up a private practice in Melbourne. Barrett then began lecturing in Physiology at Melbourne, which he continued for the next 40 years.

He was also honoured as a Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George for his contribution as a member of the University's Council. Barrett was influential in the founding of the Bush Nursing Association in 1910, which was to bring about dramatic improvements in rural health.

During the First World War he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and became Assistant Director of Medical Services of the Australian Forces. He was also Honorary Secretary of the Australian Red Cross and Consultant to the British forces in Egypt.

Barrett was honoured for his military service with the Order of the Nile, Companion of the Order of the Bath and Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1931 he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Melbourne and then served as its Chancellor from 1935 to 1939.

A man of broad interests and great energy, Barrett engaged in many committees, especially in the education and the medical communities. In 1935 he was elected President of the British Medical Association and in 1939 became the Ophthalmological Society of Australia's first President. In his retirement Barrett served as a President on no less than 12 committees.