Peter Traynor made front-page news in The Telegraph on September 19, 1972, after being awarded the Brother Austin scholarship to Assumption College, Kilmore.
The scholarship was worth $6000 and provided eight years of board and tuition at the school.
Despite his remarkable intellect, the weight of the achievement was not fully understood by the bright-eyed 12-year-old back in 1972.
“I have to say, I didn't realise why it made the front page of the paper at the time,” Mr Traynor said recently.
“My son and I did the maths and $6000 in 1972 terms equates to $66,000 in 2022.
“If you were running a scholarship now that covered six years of board and tuition, the scholarship in those terms in actual feed would be worth $220,000.’’
The monetary aspect of the award provides an interesting insight into the value of the dollar over the past 50 years. An award to the value of $220,000 is no mean feat for a 12-year-old.
The investment made by Assumption College in Mr Traynor has certainly paid off. He has made a valuable contribution to the scientific community and received a number of career accolades thanks to his open-minded and hard-working ethos.
“It was during university days that I discovered a real interest in microbiology and did four years study at Melbourne Uni, including an honours year. And it was during that time that I realised (microbiology) is just fantastic,” he said.
As a microbiologist, Mr Traynor has travelled the world. He was a finalist in the 2019 Unsung Hero of South Australian Science Awards, is an honorary life member of the Australian Society for Microbiology and has co-authored a chapter in the world's leading microbiological textbook.
He believes the scholarship changed the course of his life significantly.
A little more than a year after Mr Traynor started at Assumption College, his father, a military man who had been posted to Puckapunyal, was transferred back to Brisbane. Thanks to the scholarship, Mr Traynor was able to stay and continue his education.
Despite his achievements, he remains grounded in his assessment of how he got there.
“It's the old adage about output equals input. So, if you're willing to work hard and put your hand up to do certain things, then you never know what might happen,” he said.
“And that's certainly been my case where I've been happy to be involved in different things and they've opened different doors that I would never have anticipated in a million years.’’
Mr Traynor has always been one to go with the flow and take each opportunity as it comes. In fact, he went along to the scholarship examinations because his friends were.
By being open to that experience, he ended up being the only child out of the 90 who sat the exam to receive the full scholarship.
Mr Traynor looks back fondly on his time at Assumption College, including the making of lifelong friends such as classmates Damian Drum, the former federal member for Nicholls, and AFL Big Freeze legend Neal Daniher.
A lot has changed in the past 50 years. Seymour was a smaller, busier place back then, buzzing with railway and military industry.
Mr Traynor fondly recalls living in Area 13 along Yae Rd, which is now Anzac Ave.
“The bush was our backyard, pretty much,’’ he said.
“It was just a wonderland. To have that sort of rural bush access was priceless and all of the old tracks and trails through that old army property was absolutely amazing.”
Although now living in South Australia, Mr Traynor still has connections to Seymour through his brother in-law’s family who live in the area.
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