We congratulate Durham on his birthday as he reaches the age of 100.
Durham is celebrating today with family and friends. His four sons and other family members are all joining to celebrate the occasion when Durham plans to share the Magnum of wine given by the Alumni in honour of the occasion.
Durham still lives independently in an apartment in a complex, where he has his own kitchen and laundry facilities and fends for himself, largely independently
The president of the Alumni visited him and spent about two hours chatting and reminiscing about friends and colleagues and was very impressed with his clarity of memory. He was born in Durham, England, where his father (an Australian church minister) was doing a theological course. The name “Durham” was suggested by one of the attending nurses. When he graduated after World War II, in which he served his country, he had intended to go into general practice. However, TB interfered with his plans and after recovering he decided to train in hospital medicine or surgery. With support from Douglas Stephens he completed surgical training and went on to a distinguished career as a paediatric surgeon becoming the only paediatric surgeon of his era to be elected President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.