Diana Glen Horvath (born 1944) is an Australian

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

, researcher and administrator and the first female chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Early life and education

Horvath graduated from Redlands, Cremorne and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

with a

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in 1968. She later completed a Masters of Health Planning from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

Career

Horvath served as a junior medical officer for three years before emigrating with her husband John to work at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

for 2 years.

Public health physician and health administrator

Upon return to Australia, Horvath trained in public health medicine and health administration. She served as the chief executive officer of the Central Sydney Health Services, the predecessor of Sydney South West Area Health Service, itself a predecessor of Sydney Local Health District (LHD) and South West Sydney LHD. Horvath served as the first community physician at Mount Druitt Centre in the early days of the Western Metropolitan Health Region. She also established community nurses at all schools and a back-up service at the Mount Druitt shopping centre, which became the pattern for community health services delivery in Western Sydney. This led to her becoming Principal Adviser in Community Services in the Health Commission of New South Wales, which were formative years for the establishment of the National Community Health Program under the Whitlam government. Diana was responsible for the direction of the program in New South Wales and for negotiating with the Federal Health Department and the Hospitals and Health Services Commission.

Honours

Horvath was made an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 1995 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to health administration and to medicine particularly through advancing medical teaching and medical research". She was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

in 2001 for "service to Australian society in business leadership". Horvath was awarded the Sidney Sax medal in 1992, the pre-eminent prize awarded by the

Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association is the representative body for the public hospital sector in Australia. It is one of 23 bodies funded from the government's Health Peaks and Advisory Bodies Program. The Deeble Institute for Heal ...

Personal life

Horvath is married to her classmate, Professor John Horvath. After graduation and three years' practice as junior doctors in Sydney, the two worked together at

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

in Maryland in the United States in the 1970s before returning to Australia. The Horvaths have two children. One is a medical oncologist at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse near the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and a graduate of the Horvaths' alma mater, the University of Sydney; the other is an arts/law graduate of the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

References

Living people 1944 births 20th-century Australian medical doctors 21st-century Australian medical doctors 21st-century Australian public servants Officers of the Order of Australia University of Sydney alumni People educated at Redlands, Cremorne 21st-century Australian women medical doctors 20th-century Australian women medical doctors {{Australia-bio-stub