1984
CITATION
"MR CHANCELLOR,
GEOFFREY CLIVE SIMMONS CAME TO QUEENSLAND AFTER GRADUATING BSC IN ADELAIDE IN 1945, AND COMMENCED WORK AS ASSISTANT BACTERIOLOGIST AT THE ANIMAL HEALTH STATION (NOW THE ANIMAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE), YEERONGPILLY IN FEBRUARY 1946. HE SPENT ALL HIS GRADUATE WORKING LIFE, UNTIL HIS RETIREMENT IN SEPTEMBER, AT THAT INSTITUTE WHERE HIS ACHIEVEMENTS IN VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY HAVE BEEN OUTSTANDING.
MR SIMMONS' DETAILED KNOWLEDGE OF THE MICROBIOLOGY OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, HIS METICULOUS LABORATORY TECHNIQUE, HIS CRITICAL ENQUIRING MIND, AND PARTICULARLY HIS READY WILLINGNESS TO COLLABORATE WITH CLINICIANS AND PATHOLOGISTS, QUICKLY WON FOR HIM THE RESPECT OF THE VETERINARIANS, OTHER SCIENTISTS AND TECHNICIANS WITH WHOM HE WAS WORKING AND OF THOSE FIELD OFFICERS SENDING SPECIMENS TO HIS LABORATORY.
HE MADE THE FIRST IDENTIFICATION OF BRUCELLA OVIS AND ACTINOBACILLUS SEMINUS, TWO BACTERIA THAT HE AND HIS CO-WORKERS SHOWED WERE CAUSAL AGENTS OF INFECTIONS LEADING TO STERILITY IN RAMS. HE ALSO MADE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SEVERAL BACTERIAL INFECTIONS OF CATTLE, SHEEP AND PIGS.
AS ONE EXAMPLE OF HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE OF VETERINARY VIRAL DISEASES IN POULTRY, HE ISOLATED NON-PATHOGENIC NEWCASTLE DISEASE VIRUS FROM POULTRY IN AUSTRALIA - AN IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE EXCLUSION OF VIRULENT NEWCASTLE DISEASE HAD BEEN A MAJOR PUBLIC-HEALTH PRIORITY. THE ORGANISM ISOLATED HAS BEEN SUBJECT TO EXTENSIVE STUDY IN AUSTRALIA AND OVERSEAS FOR ITS POTENTIAL AS AV ACCINE AGAINST VIRULENT FORMS OF THE DISEASE.
MR SIMMONS HAS PUBLISHED OVER SEVENTY SCIENTIFIC PAPERS IN REFEREED SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS OF INTERNATIONAL REPUTE AND IS ACKNOWLEDGED BY MANY OF HIS COLLEAGUES AS THE FINEST DIAGNOSTIC VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGIST IN AUSTRALIA. HE IS HIGHLY REGARDED BY THE VETERINARY PROFESSION FOR HIS KNOWLEDGE AND CONTRIBUTIONS TO VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY AND FOR HIS WILLINGNESS TO COLLABORATE WITH AND ASSIST THEM.
MR CHANCELLOR, FOR HIS OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY. I PRESENT TO YOU GEOFFREY CLIVE SIMMONS, BACHELOR OF SCIENCE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE, FELLOW OF THE AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF VETERINARY SCIENTISTS, FOR THE AWARD OF DOCTOR OF SCIENCE, HO NORIS CA USA."