July 14, 1971

Mr. James 8, Roach

Office of the Chariman

The Board of Foreign Scholarships
Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Mr. Roach,

Thank you for your letter of July 9th. I am delighted to
have an opportunity to recapitulate my appreciation of the
Pulbright Exchange Program in the light of my experience as
a visitor to Australia in 1957.

I retain the most vivid recollections of that interval
in the light of ite cultural impact, the personal-professional
relationships thet it enabled me to establish, and its fruitfulness
in ay own investigative work.

I visited the Univeraity of Melbourne as the guest of the
late Professor Sidney Rubbo and Sir Macfarlane Burnet. My teaching
in the then new field of microbial genetics was, I was repeatedly
teld, instrumental in helping Professor Rubbo guide the further
development of his department into new and modern lines of inquiry,
in closer accord with continuing efforts in this country and elsewhere.
At the Hall Institute, with Professor Burnet, I initiated a new line
of investigative work in collaboration with a young postdoctoral
fellow, Dr. G. Boseal, which introduced me to the field of the
relationship between genetics and immunology. After a later tour
as visiting professor in thia department Dr. Nossal returned to ae
Melbounne a few years ago to sueceed Burnet as Director of the Hall ~
Institute where he continues to lead a world renouned and furtile
research program, -

I was particularly grateful for this opportunity to broaden ay c
scientific and cultural horizons at a time when I had not achieved any =
evident public visibility, My relationships with these colleagues from ~
Melbourne have continued over the years and I was particularly
gratified when Sir Macferlane, many years ay senior, won long overdue
recognition in 1966 as a Mobel laureate,

over

i
Mr. James R. Roach -2. 7/14/71

Scientific matters aside, I have also maintained a long
standing interest in Australian cultural and political affairs,
and share the belief held by many Australians and too few Americans
that the destinies of our two nations are closely interlinked.

In these ways, and particularly in the repeated exchange of
very talented people to and from my department, that visit in 1957
has undoubtedly, led to a continuous harvest of the intended fruit
of that sost #flusive and most essential understanding among
sovereign nations,
Sincerely yours,

Joshua Lederberg
Professor of Genetics

JIL/rr
enclosure