A. T. S. Sissons

Alfred Thomas Stanley Sissons (22 April 1888 – 30 June 1975) was an Australian pharmaceutical scientist and academic. He was Dean of the Victorian College of Pharmacy for 42 years, from 1920 until 1962. [ [http://www.vcp.monash.edu.au/125/stories/sissonsa.html 125 stories for 125 years ] ]

Early life

Sissons was born in Malvern, an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. [ [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160301b.htm Sissons, Alfred Thomas Stanley (1888 - 1975) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online ] ] He grew up in Brunswick, and was educated at Moreland State School, University High School and the Continuation School. He began working as a teacher at the Continuation School in 1907. He then attended the Melbourne Training College, before going on to gain a Bachelor of Science and a Diploma of Education from the University of Melbourne.

Professional career

Sissons began his career in research as a scientist in Britain, working for the Ministry for Munitions in Scotland. There, he accidentally inhaled nitrogen peroxide gas, which affected his health for the remainder of his life. [ [http://www.vcp.monash.edu.au/125/stories/sissonsa.html 125 stories for 125 years ] ] He returned to Australia in 1920 to be appointed head of the Victorian College of Pharmacy, [ [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160301b.htm Sissons, Alfred Thomas Stanley (1888 - 1975) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online ] ] making him the first ever Australian-born head of a pharmacy school. [ [http://www.vcp.monash.edu.au/125/stories/sissonsa.html 125 stories for 125 years ] ] He initiated wide-ranging reforms to the college's curriculum, introducing a number of new subjects and extending the course to four years in length.

During World War II, Sissons worked as part of a team of scientists providing emergency medicines for the Government's Medical Equipment Control Committee. Continuing his previous obligations, Sissons' team was forced to work during the evening, often well past midnight, leaving Sissons to walk home to get a few hours sleep before classes the next morning. [ [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160301b.htm Sissons, Alfred Thomas Stanley (1888 - 1975) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online ] ]

Sissons was a gifted teacher, who was loved and admired by the students of the college. By the time of his retirement in the early 1960s, he had taught more than two-thirds of Victoria's practising pharmacists. [ [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160301b.htm Sissons, Alfred Thomas Stanley (1888 - 1975) Biographical Entry - Australian Dictionary of Biography Online ] ] He died in Canberra in 1975, survived by his wife Jessie and their two sons. The Sissons Mural at the College of Pharmacy - reportedly the largest mural painting in Australia - commemorates his immense contribution to pharmacy. [ [http://vcp.monash.edu.au/125/stories/sissonsmural.html 125 stories for 125 years ] ]

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