What was the name of the first Australian of the Year, awarded in 1960?

The first Australian of the Year, awarded in 1960, was Sir Macfarlane Burnet.

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet was an Australian virologist and immunologist whose work helped explain acquired immune tolerance and shaped modern immunology. He shared the 1960 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Peter Medawar for discoveries concerning immunological tolerance—the body’s ability to distinguish its own tissues from foreign material.

The Australian of the Year award was introduced in 1960 by the Victorian Australia Day Council. A five-person panel selected Burnet as its first recipient, recognising the international importance of his scientific achievements. In its early years, the award particularly favoured Australians whose work had brought distinction to the country overseas.

Sir John Eccles, another Nobel Prize-winning Australian scientist, followed Burnet as Australian of the Year in 1963, which helps explain a frequent quiz mistake. Sir Howard Florey was also a major Australian medical figure and Nobel laureate, but he was not the inaugural recipient. Burnet was knighted in 1951 and later became president of the Australian Academy of Science.