Thomas Peter Anderson Stuart

Sir Thomas Peter Anderson Stuart (20 June 1856 – 29 February 1920) was a Scottish-born professor of physiology, founder of the medical school at the University of Sydney.

Early life Stuart was born in Dumfries, Scotland in 1856. His father, Alexander Stuart, was a master clothier & tailor, a magistrate and a member of the town council; and his mother Jane, née Anderson worked in the home and supported charities. Stuart was educated at Dumfries Academy until 14 years of age and was then apprenticed to a pharmacist. He was an excellent student, coming first in his year, graduating with first class honors and the Ettles scholarship. On 21 November 1882 Stuart married Elizabeth (Lizza) Ainslie.

In 1886 Stuart reluctantly oversaw the entry of the first woman to study medicine in Australia, Dagmar Berne. He publicly commented that "I think that the proper place for a woman is in the home; the proper function for a woman is to be a man's wife, and for women to be the mothers of future generations". Many commentators believe that Stuart deliberately failed Berne in examinations that he marked - causing her to leave Australia to complete her studies in France. The first woman to graduate medicine at the University of Sydney did so in 1893, when he was on leave overseas, and unable to mark the exams.

In 1889, the new Medical School Building was substantially completed; interior fitting was finalised in 1892. A public service board having been constituted it ruled that though Stuart was a highly efficient officer he should give his whole time to the government positions. Stuart decided to resign as president, but continued to be a member of the board for the remainder of his life.

In 1914, he was made a knight bachelor. Historian Dr Diana Wyndham describes him as part of the medical group of Australian eugenicists who believed that eugenics could be used to reduce disease and suffering. He was strongly involved in founding the Institute of Tropical Medicine, whose purpose was to research whether white people could successfully live in the tropics - with the long term political aim of encouraging more white Europeans to move the Northern Australia, thus keeping out the "Asiatic races".

He was president of the Immigration League of Australia from in the early 1900s, which advocated for the immigration of white Europeans to Australia to deter the threat of "alien race". He continued to work until January 1920, and he died on at his home in Double Bay on 29 February 1920.