David Maddison Building (MSW)

David Maddison Building (MSW)

Professor David Maddison

1927-1981

This building honours Professor David Maddison, a visionary psychiatrist, educator, and founding Dean of Medicine at the University of Newcastle. Appointed in 1974 following the Commonwealth’s decision to establish a medical school at the University, Professor Maddison laid the foundations for a bold new model of medical education. Under his leadership, the Faculty of Medicine introduced pioneering approaches to teaching, including community-connected, problem-based learning and innovative admissions and evaluation systems. These reforms positioned Newcastle as a global leader in medical education and continue to shape the University’s values and practices today.
 
Professor Maddison believed that every patient should be seen as a person, and that medical education should extend beyond hospital walls to embrace the health needs of communities. His vision helped define the University’s enduring commitment to socially accountable healthcare.
 
Though his sudden death in 1981 meant he did not witness the graduation of the first medical cohort in 1983, his legacy lives on in the curriculum he shaped, the values he instilled, and the bi-annual David Maddison Memorial Lecture held in his honour.
 
The naming of this building ensures that Professor Maddison’s profound contributions to medicine, education, and the University of Newcastle will be remembered for generations to come.

David Clarkson Maddison was the Foundation Dean of Medicine at the University of Newcastle from 1974 until his death in 1981. He played a central role in establishing the University’s medical school and shaping its distinctive approach to medical education. His work at Newcastle reflected a broader commitment to reforming medical training in Australia to better reflect the social, psychological, and community dimensions of healthcare.

Born in Sydney in 1927, Maddison studied medicine at the University of Sydney, graduating with honours in 1948. He trained initially as a physician, and later specialised in psychiatry, developing a strong interest in psychoanalytic theory and practice. In the 1950s, he undertook a travelling fellowship in the UK, Europe and North America, returning to Australia to take up an academic position in psychiatry. He was appointed Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney in 1962.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Maddison became increasingly involved in curriculum development, psychiatric education, and public mental health. His research into bereavement and preventative psychiatry, and his early textbook Psychiatric Nursing (1963), were influential in shaping psychiatric care and training. 

In 1974, Maddison was invited to advise on the establishment of a new medical school at the University of Newcastle. When a suitable candidate for the role of Foundation Dean could not be found, Maddison was offered the position himself. He accepted, viewing it as an opportunity to implement new approaches to medical education in a purpose-built setting.

At Newcastle, Maddison oversaw the design and implementation of a curriculum that was, at the time, highly innovative. Maddison recruited academic staff who shared his interest in linking medical education to the social context of healthcare, and supported interdisciplinary collaboration. Many of the principles introduced at Newcastle have since been adopted by other medical schools in Australia and internationally, though at the time they were considered experimental.

In addition to his university work, Maddison held leadership roles in psychiatry, including as President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and worked with government and international bodies including the World Health Organization.

David Maddison died unexpectedly before the first cohort of Newcastle medical students completed their studies. While he did not live to see their graduation, his influence on the structure and philosophy of the medical program remained. The Clinical Sciences Building at Royal Newcastle Hospital was also named in his honour.

Maddison’s contributions to the University of Newcastle helped establish a model of medical education that integrated clinical, behavioural and community-based learning, and reflected a broader understanding of health and healthcare.

IMAGE: Professor David Maddison(date unknown). This photograph was taken by a member of the University of Newcastle's former Medical Communication Unit.
The original slide is held in Special Collections, Auchmuty Library, the University of Newcastle, Australia.
IMAGE: Professor David Maddison, Sue James, and John Birch outside temporary offices, University of Newcastle, Australia, 1975
(Images scanned from photographs and slides held by the University of Newcastle Special Collections)

LINKS

Hunter Living Histories and Special Collections, the University of Newcastle Library