Dr Brendan Nelson AO (BMBS ’83, DUniversity ’11) has chosen the vessels that Australian sailors would sail in to defend our borders, determined policy that would change the course of the nation, and joined the international stage as Australia’s ambassador to NATO.
The first in his family to attend university, progeny of a mother and father who had struggled to make ends meet, they pinned their hopes for their son on education.
A rather lacklustre Year 11 led him to drop physics and chemistry for Year 12. To his surprise, he had close to a perfect Year 12 result and enrolled in economics. By the end of his first term, however, he was bored and frustrated.
He informed his parents that he was going to drop out with no idea what he would do. They were devastated but supportive.
“I took a full-time job working in the basement of Harris Scarfe on Rundle Mall, selling doors and curtain fittings. On weekends I worked at the Clovercrest Tavern in Modbury where I learnt a lot about life and working Australians, especially in the front bar,” says Dr Nelson.
“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I did a lot of thinking about it and came to the conclusion then that people who end their lives with the greatest sense of satisfaction are people who spend their lives in the service of others.
“So I applied for medicine at Flinders University and it changed my life.”
Among the many inspiring teachers he had at Flinders, Dr Nelson says neurologist Professor Rick Burns and surgeon Professor Jim Watts stand out. He will never forget Professor Burns spending an hour speaking about the clinical mistakes he made, why he had made them and what he learned. Few people in life would ever do such a thing.
Dr Nelson moved to Hobart in 1984 to work at the Royal Hobart Hospital. He was a resident medical officer and his wife Kate a registered nurse. He says it was one of the best years of his life, though not without some tears.
“I would do four rotations – anaesthetics, emergency medicine, obstetrics and radiation oncology. From a modern tertiary teaching hospital, I had come to one harking back to an earlier era. I learned quickly and I learned a lot,” he says.
Unhappy with how the Australian Medical Association (AMA) was being run in 1988 as his generation of doctors were beginning to make their mark, Dr Nelson joined the Association and quickly rose to Tasmanian State President in 1990. After serving as the National Vice President from 1991 to 1992, he was elected unopposed as the youngest ever national president in 1993, at the age of 34. Two years later, in 1995, he received the AMA’s highest honour, the Gold Medal for ‘Distinguished Service to Medicine and Humanity’.
“Beyond the professional and industrial issues facing the profession along with health financing, I took the AMA into a range of health and social issues for which the profession’s voice was needed,” he says.
From 1996 until 2009, Dr Nelson was a member of the Australian Parliament, and although it was health that drove him there, he never became a health minister despite being asked, going on to serve five years as Minister for Education, Science and Training followed by two years as Minister for Defence.
He was elected leader of Australia’s Liberal Party in 2007 and led the Opposition until 2008. After an extensive career in Federal Parliament, Dr Nelson served for three years as Australia’s ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg, the European Union and NATO.
Dr Nelson credits his time at Flinders for much of his ongoing success. “I didn’t fully appreciate the quality and value of my Flinders training and medical degree until I had graduated and moved on. Our basic training equipped me superbly for critical intellectual interrogation of facts, problem solving, treating others with respect, teamwork and practical skills second to none.”
He then discovered the job of Director of the Australian War Memorial was to become available and for the first time in many years, sat down and wrote a job application letter.
After seven years of service, driving much reform and securing a $550 million redevelopment, Dr Nelson left the National War Memorial and was appointed as Country Vice President of Boeing Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific and Chairman of the board for Boeing Australia Holdings at the start of 2020.
Now based in London, Dr Nelson was appointed President of Boeing Global in late 2022. In his current role, Dr Nelson oversees Boeing’s global operations outside the US consisting of 30,000 employees across 50 countries generating $25 Billion in revenue.
“Whatever I have been able to do and achieve I attribute to my parents, the Jesuits and Flinders University,” says Dr Nelson.
“I didn’t realise how privileged and fortunate I was to have the education I had received at Flinders University until I had left. In hindsight, I was so fortunate; I got the right lottery ticket.”
This strong connection was recognised when Dr Nelson received an honorary doctorate from Finders in 2011 and now, our highest honour, the 2024 Convocation Medal.
Dr Brendan Nelson AO was awarded a 2024 Convocation Medal for outstanding leadership and impact in the public and private sectors.