Nancy Fannie Millis (10 April 192229 September 2012) was an Australian

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

and Emeritus Professor who introduced

fermentation Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...

technologies to Australia, and created the first applied microbiology course taught in an Australian university.

Biography

Millis was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1922, the fifth child of six. She attended high school at Merton Hall,

Melbourne Girls Grammar Melbourne Girls Grammar School (commonly called MGGS and formally known as MCEGGSFalk, B. (2012Australian Dictionary of Biography: Dorothy Jean Ross. M.U.P. Retrieved 7 August 2018), is an Independent school, independent, Anglican, Day school, day ...

, but had to leave before completing her studies when her father had a heart attack. She attended business college, then worked for a customs agent and then as a technician at the

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency that is responsible for scientific research and its commercial and industrial applications. CSIRO works with leading organisations arou ...

. Millis Matriculated part-time, taking two years to complete her high school studies. The

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

refused her entry into the

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

; however, she could gain entry to the degree of agricultural science. In 1945 she graduated with a BAgSc, and went on to complete a master's degree in 1946 studying the soil organism ''Pseudomonas''. Millis travelled to

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

with the Department of External Affairs to teach women agricultural methods. However, her posting was cut short due to serious illness that almost claimed her life and she was airlifted to hospital in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. After recovering from her illness she applied for a Boots Research Scholarship at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

. She spent three years at Bristol working on the fermentation of

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

, and microorganisms that can affect the process. This led Nancy in her lifelong passion in anything that ferments. When she completed her

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1951, Millis returned to Australia; she had hoped to work for Carlton United Brewery, but at that time they did not employ women in their laboratories. She joined the Department of Microbiology at the University of Melbourne in 1952 and worked as a demonstrator, and then as a lecturer, setting up the Applied Microbiology course at the university. In 1954 Millis was awarded a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Travel Grant; she went to Hopkins Marine Station at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and worked with C B Van Neil, and then to the Institute of Applied Microbiology at the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

. Millis was the Chancellor of

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora. The university was established in 1 ...

from 1992 until her retirement in 2006. She died on 29 September 2012, aged 90.

Honours and legacy

Millis was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 1977 New Year's Honours. She was awarded Australia's highest civilian honour,

Companion of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AC), in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1990. She was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

on 1 January 2001 and inducted onto the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the Australian state of Victoria. It was launched by The Hon. Joan Kirner AC as a joint initiative of the Centenary of Federation Victoria Comm ...

in 2003. She was one of six scientists featured in the 2002

Australian Legends The Australian Legends is an annual series of commemorative postage stamps issued by Australia Post since 1997. The stamps commemorate living Australians who have made lifetime contributions to the development of the Commonwealth's national ident ...

series of postage stamps. She was elected a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science The Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science is made up of about 500 Australian scientists. Scientists judged by their peers to have made an exceptional contribution to knowledge in their field may be elected to Fellowship of the Academy ...

(FAA), a

Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering There are almost 900 living fellows of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. The post-nominal is FTSE. The following lists many notable living and deceased Fellows. Post-nominal statistics ;Numbers of active/living Fellows i ...

(FTSE), and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Victoria (FRSV) in 1999. The Nancy Millis Room at the Royal Society of Victoria is dedicated to her distinguished contribution to science in the State of Victoria at the Society. In 2014 the Australian Academy of Science inaugurated the Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science in her honour.

References

Bibliography

* *Morrison, S. (2001)
"Interview with Professor Nancy Millis"
Australian Academy of Science

External links

*
Australian Legends in Medicine Postage Stamp
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Millis, Nancy Australian microbiologists Alumni of the University of Bristol 1922 births 2012 deaths Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Companions of the Order of Australia Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Chancellors of La Trobe University Australian women microbiologists 20th-century Australian women scientists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering People educated at Melbourne Girls Grammar