St Peter’s College is delighted to announce Professor Munjed Al Muderis, Pioneering Surgeon, Author and Human Rights Activist as the next Rex J Lipman Fellow.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Professor Al Muderis’ extraordinary account of his journey from escaping the brutality of Saddam Hussein's regime, to a new life in Australia and a remarkable career at the forefront of medicine.

Please join us for this free public lecture.

Please arrive by 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start.

Professor Munjed Al Muderis

Professor Al Muderis is a world leading orthopaedic and osseointegration surgeon, Adjunct Clinical Professor, author and humanitarian. He teaches at Notre Dame and Macquarie Universities, trains local and international surgeons, registrars, and medical students. In 2020 he was awarded NSW Australian of the Year, in recognition of his humanitarian work and contribution to medicine.

Born in Iraq into a wealthy family, Al Muderis became a surgeon under the regime of Saddam Hussein. Forced to flee the country after refusing brutal orders to surgically remove the ears of army deserters. Al Muderis made his way to Australia on a refugee boat. He didn’t have the opportunity to say goodbye to his family and spent almost a year in an Australian detention centre.

Professor Al Muderis retrained as a doctor in Australia and is today recognised as one of the world’s top osseointegration surgeons for his pioneering work in prosthetics.

In his 2014 memoir, Walking Free, Al Muderis shares his phenomenal tale of escaping a death sentence in Iraq, surviving the Australian Refugee system and becoming a pioneering surgeon at the forefront of Orthopaedic medicine. His second book, Going Back, outlines the extraordinary journey that his life-changing new surgical technique has taken him on.

About the Rex J Lipman Fellows Program

The Rex J Lipman Fellows program brings the world’s best thinkers and leaders to St Peter’s College, Adelaide. A free public lecture gives everyone in the community the opportunity to discuss, debate and engage with leaders and commentators from a diverse range of fields. St Peter’s College passionately believes in the value of education and public debate, and is delighted to bring distinguished national and international speakers to the broader South Australian community.

The benefactor of the Fellows Program, the late Dr Rex J Lipman AO ED OLH ONM (1922 – 2015) attended St Peter’s College from 1933 to 1937. Rex was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 for his contribution to the banking and thoroughbred horse racing industries, and, in 2008 he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to education, tourism and the hotel industries. In the 1990s, the French government acknowledged his services to France by making him a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur and an Officier in the Ordre National du Mérite. In July 2014, in the Bastille Day Honour’s List, he was promoted to the rank of Officier de La Légion d’Honneur – an extremely rare honour for an Australian. Rex is missed by the St Peter’s College community but his legacy lives on through the Rex J Lipman Fellows Program.