Australia - Like USA in the Fifties
John Mills, UC San Francisco

I wonder sometimes whether there are any other UC retirees living here as well as myself! Most Americans think Australia is far away, yet it is only a long sleep from the West Coast on an airplane, and culturally it is probably closer to the USA than almost any other country, including Canada.

I left UC San Francisco in 1992, well before retirement age, to take up a position in Melbourne for which I had been recruited, as the Director of the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research & Public Health. I had been to Australia several times previously, and thus had some idea of the country I was moving to, and my now wife is Australian, which certainly helped the transition. Running a research institute is one-third management, one-third business and one-third research. I had a ball! 

Americans who visit Australia frequently describe it as like the USA in the 50's (or 40's or 60's -- some time in a pleasantly-remembered past), except that we have funny plastic money and drive on the wrong side of the road, like the Brits. However, there are subtle, and deeply submerged, cultural differences which one doesn't see until you've been here for some time. Australians have a reputation for being forthright and direct, but in many interactions (in the workplace, for example) they may be surprisingly mute, and elliptical when they do speak. And Australian society is far more egalitarian than that in the USA. When was the last time you stood in line to check in to an airline with the Vice-President of the United States, as I did once not long ago with the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia!

I'm planning on staying in Australia indefinitely, as I have come to love the country and the people, and email and telephones allow me to keep in close touch with my friends and family in the USA and elsewhere in the world. The climate and environment in Melbourne is surprisingly similar to that of San Francisco, and the gastronomic, cultural and outdoor activities here are outstanding.

My background is as a physician-scientist, and I worked in that capacity at UCSF for roughly 30 years. Although I still have a small practice (infectious diseases and HIV) and still do some research (in virology), I am now primarily a medical businessman. I am the Managing Director of a small biotech company (with HIV-related products) and also co-manage a boutique diagnostic pathology company. I don't think I ever have a typical day, although my weekly hospital clinic has become a focal point.

Come and visit Australia -- you'll have a great time.

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