Norman Swan (born Norman Swirsky in 1953) is a Scottish-born Australian physician, journalist and broadcaster.

Life and career

Swan was born in Glasgow,

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

as Norman Swirsky. Datelines: Norman Swan, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 7 November 1998, Spectrum, p. 2s He wanted to be an actor, but instead went to medical school at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

graduating in 1976. He later tried unsuccessfully to attend the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

. He then continued his postgraduate studies by specialising in

paediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

. Swan moved to Australia to continue his training but transitioned from medicine when he became a producer and broadcaster with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

in 1982. He was the general manager of ABC

Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

(RN) for three years from 1990 and in that time increased the audience by 30%. He overhauled the schedule, created the RN current affairs breakfast program and recruited Phillip Adams,

Geraldine Doogue Geraldine Frances Doogue () (born 29 April 1952) is an Australian journalist and radio and television presenter, known for her work with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Since January 2024, she has been co-host of ABC Radio Natio ...

and

Wendy Harmer Wendy Gai Harmer (born Wendy Brown, 10 October 1955) is an Australian author, children's writer, journalist, playwright, dramatist, radio show host, comedian, and television personality. Early life and education Harmer was born in Yarram, the ...

as program presenters. Swan co-hosted the RN program ''

Life Matters ''Life Matters'' is a magazine-style radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and the program is presented Monday to Thursday by Te ...

'' between 1996 and 2001, and has produced and presented ABC radio program ''The Health Report'' from its inception in 1985. From March 2020 until November 2023 Swan co-hosted ''Coronacast'', a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

about

pandemics A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic dis ...

and the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

. This has been replaced with a podcast titled ''What's That Rash''. On ABC TV, Swan has presented both ''

Catalyst Catalysis () is the increase in rate of a chemical reaction due to an added substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed by the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recycles quick ...

'' and ''Quantum'', is an occasional reporter on ''

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

'', including an exposé of egregious doctors' fees. He is currently a regular reporter and commentator on '' 7.30''. On commercial television, he has appeared on the Australian version of ''

The Biggest Loser ''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show ''The Biggest Loser (American TV series), The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and Obesity, obese contestants attempting to lose ...

'' as the resident health expert. Swan was awarded the

Gold Walkley The Gold Walkley is the major award of the Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic ...

in 1988 for revealing scientific fraud conducted by gynaecologist William McBride. Swan's investigation sent "shock waves throughout the medical world" and led to McBride's deregistration as a medical practitioner. Swan has won four

Walkley Awards The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

, (the latest in 2020 for ''Coronacast''), the 2020 Australian Skeptics Award, a Media Peace Award from the United Nations Association of Australia and the highest honour in Australian science journalism, the

Michael Daley Award The Eureka Prizes are awarded annually by the Australian Museum, Sydney, to recognise individuals and organisations who have contributed to science and the understanding of science in Australia. They were founded in 1990 following a suggestion ...

. Swan was also awarded the Medal of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

in 2004. He was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is an academy to promote health and medical sciences in Australia. It was established in June 2014. It cites "The Academy will serve the three purposes identified as of high priority in the 2 ...

in 2022. Two books of his became bestsellers, ''So You Think You Know What's Good For You'' (2021

Hachette Australia Hachette Livre S.A. (; simply known as Hachette) is a French publishing group that was based in Paris. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as Brédif which later became successively L. Hachette et Compagnie, Librairie Hachette, Hachette ...

) and ''So You Want To Live Younger Longer'' (2022 Hachette). The latest is ''So You Want to Know What's Good For your Kids'', also published by Hachette in July 2024.

Personal life

Swan married Kate Hamann, an ABC radio producer, in June 2024. It is his third marriage after being divorced twice. Swan's son Jonathan is a political correspondent, firstly for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' and ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', then '' The Hill'', ''

Axios Axios commonly refers to: * Axios (river), a river that runs through Greece and North Macedonia * ''Axios'' (website), an American news and information website Axios may also refer to: Brands and enterprises * Axios, a brand of suspension produ ...

,'' and currently the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

.'' Swan's daughter Anna was seriously injured in an

electric bike An electric bicycle, e-bike, electrically assisted pedal cycle, or electrically power assisted cycle is a bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fa ...

accident on a 2016 trip to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Swan experienced

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a Psychological trauma, traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster ...

(PTSD), blaming himself for not hiring helmets for the bikes, and also as a result of being injured in a bus explosion at age 14. Swan was appointed as a Member the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2023 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to the broadcast media as a science and health commentator".

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Swan's biography
at ICMI {{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Norman Walkley Award winners Australian paediatricians Medical journalists Scottish emigrants to Australia ABC radio (Australia) journalists and presenters Australian radio producers Cosmos (Australian magazine) people Living people 1953 births Australian people of Scottish-Jewish descent Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Members of the Order of Australia Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Australian science journalists