Retired senior medical research scientist Nancy Gibb (nee Johnston) graduated with a Masters of Rural Science from UNE in 1964. She believes she may have been the first completely deaf woman to gain a degree from an Australian university – a Bachelor of Science from UNSW in 1962.
Nancy went on to work as a clinical biochemist, and in medical research at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and the Garvan Institute. After a hiatus of about 17 years – during which time she married and sailed around Australia – Nancy took up a post as a senior scientist at the University of Queensland. She now lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, with her second husband.
Nancy Gibb
What brought you to UNE to complete your Masters?
After graduating from UNSW I wanted to do something in genetics and rural science and UNE was offering a position. Mary White was an eye-opener, but I loved college life. When, in my second postgraduate year I had to vacate my room for a new undergraduate, I happily accepted a room in the principal’s (then Mary Bagnall) residence.
What challenges did you face as a deaf person?
The main one I recall was, as a graduate student, having to attend staff seminars and to present a few, it being obvious that not everyone could understand me. I was fine talking to people one-on-one but lost in groups. Apart from those in Rural Science, people probably didn’t know there was a deaf postgraduate at UNE. I didn’t know sign language then and never saw anyone using it. Nowadays I have a transcription app on my phone, which certainly helps.
Tell us about your college experience.
Living at close quarters with such a diverse bunch of students, mostly younger than me, took a little getting used to. Thankfully, I made friends with several students closer to my own age and enjoyed room visiting in the evenings for coffee, etc.
I may be remembered as riding the Rural Science horses. My great-grandfather was a trail-blazing early pastoralist and, although I grew up in the city, nearly all my school holidays were spent with boarder friends on their parents’ country properties, mustering cattle and sheep on horseback.
Nancy on “Lady Kate” outside Block III, Mary White College
At UNE, the horse-riding gave me a welcome break from my studies. I often got up at dawn, went for a ride, then rode up to the dining room, tied up the horse and went in to breakfast, before riding back to the paddock, unsaddling the horse, returning to college for a shower, and finally getting to work a trifle late! This went on even in winter, when my toes froze in my boots and the horse’s hooves broke the ice in road puddles. I sometimes rode bareback … there were no helmets or safety gear in those days.
I remember a carnival one weekend on the lake and Mary White entering a home-made boat named the Weatherly. I also enjoyed the balls and joined the parachuting club, doing nine jumps before the club sadly disbanded.
How were you inspired by your great aunt Fanny Hunt?
My great aunt was the first woman science student in Australia to gain a degree from the University of Sydney, and I wore her hood at my own graduation from UNSW, which was a great honour. I always thought ‘why couldn’t I do it too?’.
I remain disappointed that I missed my UNE graduation, because I was overseas.
What happened professionally after you left UNE?
I finished my thesis and went overseas with a friend I had met at UNE. When I returned from the UK, I could not find work in genetics so applied for a position as a scientist in clinical biochemistry at St. Vincent’s, where I worked for over 10 years, occasionally being seconded to the Garvan Institute. After my first husband died, I moved to Brisbane and initially worked in the Biochemistry Department at Brisbane Hospital, then in three successive faculties at the University of Queensland as a senior scientist.
Why were you inspired to circumnavigate Australia?
My first husband was an adventurous Englishman and very keen on sailing. We bought a former Broome pearling lugger – a large, unwieldy beast with none of the modern fittings – and refitted it, with the plan of sailing from Australia to New Zealand. Our daughter was just two at the time we set off.
The plan changed to a circumnavigation of Australia – rather more challenging as we stayed reasonably near the coast and anchored in secluded little bays when possible. Some of the charts we used were originally prepared by Matthew Flinders. It took us 13 months and we always had at least one other crew member.
My husband died of melanoma less than two years after we returned to our home port of Bowen, in north Queensland, and I returned to Brisbane and scientific life.
Describe your life in NZ today.
I have enjoyed an adventurous life of a different kind since retirement. When we met, my second husband was a keen motorcyclist, so we rode from one end of NZ to the other. He also introduced me to the joys of salmon fishing at dawn on freezing riverbanks. Later, we had a small outboard-powered boat that we often took to inland lakes surrounded by snow-clad mountains.
After his retirement, we bought a caravan and spent four years touring NZ, followed by almost a year touring eastern Australia. By that time I was very keen on genealogy, so the Australian tour was mostly spent visiting places of family historical interest, from Melbourne to Wilcannia to Cloncurry and the Gulf. I published 10 photographic/travel books of our travels from that time and have since published several family history books.
My husband and I have become avid Scottish country dancing enthusiasts, belong to two different clubs and dance three times a week. It keeps us young!
