ALG oO 21975

THE WALTER AND ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH

POSTAL ADDRESS: POST OFFICE, ROYAL MELBOURNE HOSPITAL, VICTORIA, 3050, AUSTRALIA. TELEPHONE 347.1811

AFFILIATED WITH
THE UNIVERGITY OF MELBOURNE

BIOLOGY
AND DIRECTOR: F JV. CBE. FAA. DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL
THE ROYAL MELBOURNE HOSPITAL er PROFESSOR G. J. V. NossAL BE THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

 

6th August, 1976.

Professor Joshua Lederberg,
Department of Genetics,
Stanford University,

School of Medicine,

STANFORD, California 94305

Dear Josh,

Many thanks for your note of 20th July. As regards the Peace Prize for
W.H.O., perhaps I did not make my letter sufficiently clear. The move for

the nomination is already well under way. The chief sponsors will include

Willy Brandt; Roy Jenkins from the U.K. and several medical people

associated with the public health aspects of W.H.O. - e.g. previous presidents
of the World Health Assembly. The idea of these letters is simply to show

that there is a wide base of support for the Crganization in the biomedical
research community. Your counter proposal is, of course, a very interesting
one but there would simply not be time to reverse all of the moves that have
already gone on, at least not this year.

Therefore, as I see it, your choice is either one, to write in support of the
nomination; or two to tell me that you feel you cannot do this, and suggest
another American Nobel Laureate who might be prepared to help. In fact, if
you find you cannot write the letter of support, you might be able to get on to
the telephone to the person you consider would be the best supporter from the
United States, as I will be travelling around extensively over the next three or
four weeks and communications will be difficult. As we have Nobel Laureates
from Australia, France, the United Kingdom and Sweden as Signatories of
various letters, the absence of a Nobel Laureate from the United States might
occasion some comment.

With warm good wishes.

Yours as every
~ 4°!
i 4
hy oh &,
‘ G.J.V. Nossal,
Director.