Award of Merit

Professor Wayne Hein

The 2020 winner of the ROCA Award of Merit is Professor Wayne Hein. Wayne was presented with his Award of Merit medal at Roseworthy on Saturday 17 October 2020 during the 50th Anniversary reunion BBQ for the class of 1970.

From a rural background near Murray Bridge, Wayne began his tertiary education at Roseworthy Agricultural College as a winner of a SA Department of Agriculture scholarship. He was a studious and successful student and gained his RDA in 1970.

While at College Wayne decided to become a vet and completed an honours degree in Veterinary Science at the University of Queensland. He worked for five years as a Veterinary Officer with the Australian Bureau of Animal Health and then returned to study, completing a PhD in immunology at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University in 1985. His supervisor encouraged Wayne to apply for a position at the Hoffman-La Roche-funded Basel Institute for Immunology in Switzerland, famous for its 3 Nobel Laureates, and its environment of excellence in basic research.
Thirteen years of concentrated research led to a world-class understanding of how the immune systems of ruminants are structured and work, particularly at the molecular level.

Following a move to New Zealand in 1998, his research focussed on immunoparasitology and from 2007 he was the Inaugural Director of the Hopkirk Research Institute located at Massey University where research focussed on parasitic and infectious diseases of livestock.

Back to Australia in 2011 he became Professor and Head of the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at James Cook University. Completing a very large circle in 2015, Wayne returned to Roseworthy as Head of School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Adelaide.
Wayne has authored over 100 publications in basic and applied immunology, participated in numerous scientific advisory and review committees, given presentations at many national and international scientific conferences and held company directorships with the JCU Centre for Biosecurity of Tropical Infectious Diseases and JCU Univet.

Wayne has received numerous awards and prizes including The Cooper Australia Ltd Prize in Parasitology, the Industrial Research Award, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the DLT Smith Visiting Lecturership at the University of Saskatchewan, and was the 1995 Burroughs – Welcome Visiting Professor at Washington State University.

Involving himself in professional and industry groups wherever he has worked, Wayne has demonstrated full commitment to his field and remained active on advisory groups for years.

Leading Roseworthy’s establishment of a Vet School that has ranked on the Global Top 50 list over the past two years, Wayne has also overseen the diversification of its academic programs by developing new degrees in animal behaviour and veterinary technology to complement the existing programs in animal science and veterinary medicine. As Dean of the Roseworthy Campus, Wayne has responsibility for the development of teaching and research infrastructure as well as student facilities including residential and student care. Under his stewardship, student numbers have risen by over 40% in the last five years with the Campus now providing an academic home to almost 900 undergraduate, postgraduate and higher degree students. The Campus also offers a comprehensive Veterinary Clinic with over 60 staff who provide state-of-the-art public veterinary care.