Glaxo Wellcome, GSK, Medal, Michael Berndt, Joseph Edward Nathan, Henry Solomon Wellcome, Pharmaceuticals, Research
Summary
The Town Hall has played host to many events over the years. In 1996, the pharmaceutical company Glaxo Wellcome (now known as GSK) held a ceremony to present Dr Michael Berndt, then at Melbourne's Baker Medical Research Institute, with the Glaxo Wellcome Australia medal for research excellence. The award was initiated in 1980 as the Wellcome Australia Medal, to recognise outstanding achievements in medical research. Between 1980 and 2000, some 20 recipients were awarded a medal in a timber case, along with a plaque and a research grant. In 2000 - recognising the formation of GlaxoSmithKline Australia (GSK) - a new award was commissioned in the form of a trophy and research grant.
Today, Professor Michael Berndt is pro vice chancellor of health sciences at Curtin University, in Perth, and his award sits proudly at home, so it is interesting that a duplicate resides in the city's Art and Heritage Collection. In addition to the Glaxo Wellcome Australia medal, Berndt also received a Distinguished Career Award from the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis in 2003.
The Glaxo Wellcome Australia Medal in the city's collection is still in its timber box, complete with the Wellcome logo (a unicorn) in brass on the lid. Most medals in the collection are struck, which is where an impression is made through powerful force applied to a blank disc, known as a planchet. This medal is different in that it has been cast, meaning molten metal was poured into a mould. The casting process enables the images to be more prominent than can usually be obtained through striking.
The obverse features a high relief portrait of Joseph Edward Nathan (1835-1912), company founder from which Glaxo Laboratories grew. Like many, Nathan came from England in the wake of the gold rush. He arrived in Melbourne on 27 December 1853 and had moderate success as a businessman, before being asked to step into his brother-in-law's business and move to Wellington, New Zealand, in 1856. There he found success in producing milk powder, and then expanded in to pharmaceuticals.
The medal's reverse shows a portrait of Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853-1936), an American pharmaceutical entrepreneur, who, with Silas M Burroughs, founded Burroughs Wellcome & Co. in London in 1880. In 1995, Glaxo merged with Burroughs Wellcome to form Glaxo Wellcome.
This text is excerpted from Darren Burgess' essay 'City of Melbourne Numismatic Collection', available in full through the 'Explore' tab above.
