Maurice Wallin (SPC 1956-63)

Maurice Wallin.

Old Collegian Dr Maurice Wallin (SPC 1956-63) sadly passed away on January 2, 2020 in Melbourne.

Maurice matriculated in 1962 as a prefect and received a junior government scholarship. He was a committee member of the College’s Literary and Debating Society, a member of St Vincent de Paul Society, Cadet Under-Officer between 1960-1962, involved in rowing between 1958-1962 and on the Umpires’ Panel in 1963.

Maurice is best remembered as the founding president of the Australasian College of Legal Medicine (ACLM). Maurice tried a number of fields of medicine before settling on the interface of medicine and law and legal medicine. He enrolled in Duntroon and considered a career in the Military but realised that this was not for him and then considered a career as a radiologist, which he likewise rejected before adding the study of law to his MBBS qualification as a doctor.

Together with Justices Williams and Abadee and others, Dr Wallin created the Expert Witness Institute of Australia, mirroring a similar body in the UK and serving in conjunction with the activities of the then Australian, later to become the Australasian College of Legal Medicine. While the Institute no longer exists, the ACLM continues to go from strength to strength and has grown to become a well-respected and internationally recognised body with a particular focus on the interface between medicine and law.

Maurice is remembered as “a man of vision and had the energy to push for courses to be run by the ACLM, which have stood the test of time. Now, almost a quarter of a century later, they continue to be oversubscribed and demonstrate a national and international success, attracting people from as far away as the United States, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom”.

Maurice was the first person, within the Australasian College of Legal Medicine, to be acknowledged with an Honorary Life Fellowship, in recognition of his great contribution to the ACLM, being both its founding President and having established the College on such a sound foundation. He was further honoured by being the only ever recipient of the Noel McCleave Medal which the ACLM provided both in honour of Dr Wallin’s contribution and also to recognise the role played by Dr McCleave as one of the founding fellows and architects of the ACLM.

A Funeral mass was held at St Joseph’s Church in South Yarra on January 9. Maurice is survived by his wife Margaret and was a loving father of six children and 10 grandchildren.

Maurice Wallin was a member of the SPC Senior Debating Society.