Obituaries

Graham, the middle child of three boys was born May 31, 1929, to Harry and Florence Jeffries in Barmera on the Murray River in South Australia. He moved with his family to New Zealand at a young age. He graduated from Auckland University College and the Otago Medical School of the University of New Zealand. He was New Zealand Junior Champion and record holder in the High Jump and competed as a New Zealand representative in the British Empire Games in 1950.
As a Rhodes Scholar, he spent three years at Oxford University and completed a Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Pathology in 1955. Graham was President of the Oxford University Athletic Club and competed as a high jumper in numerous track & field events against Welsh, Irish and US university teams. In 1954, his last year at Oxford, Graham participated in the meet where Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile world record.

In 1955, Graham married the love of his life, Elizabeth Jones of Pelham, New York, and returned to Oxford to continue his Residency Training in Internal Medicine. In 1958, he came to the United States as a Fellow in Gastroenterology at The New York Hospital – Cornell University Medical College. He joined the faculty and was appointed as Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology in 1967 and served as an attending physician at New York Hospital.

In 1969, Graham was recruited to be the founding Chairman of the Department of Medicine at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, PA and served in the capacity until 1988. The early years of his chairmanship were devoted to the recruitment of faculty in the Department of Medicine, the development of patient care programs, and the teaching of medical students and residents. Over the next two decades, he institutionalized a strong, balanced academic program of patient care, teaching, and research that remains today.

A member of numerous scientific societies, Graham distinguished himself as a clinician, teacher, and clinical scholar. Author of more than eighty scientific papers, he served as editor or reviewer for leading medical journals and textbooks. In 1983 he was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar in India, and in 1984, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Zimbabwe. Each year for 15 years since 1989, Graham and Elizabeth spent two months at a mission hospital in the highlands of Kenya with a group of medical students and residents.

He and Elizabeth raised their four children in Hershey and lived and worked there for over 53 years. Graham’s keen intellect drove his leisure pursuits. He had an extensive garden and especially loved orchids and feeding the birds. He collected grandfather clocks, blue & white Chinese porcelain, and other fine furnishings. He was an avid reader and loved researching medical history and family ancestry. He played racquetball, tennis, and golf at various stages of his life and enjoyed cooking and canning fruits and vegetables. Graham cooked the best New Zealand leg of lamb dinner and often invited medical students, residents, and friends to join in on family gatherings. He and Elizabeth enjoyed traveling the world with visits back to New Zealand and Australia to see family, as well as spending summers in their 2nd home in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. In his later years, he became a prolific painter, painting many of the places he visited throughout his life.

Hildebrand was the national president of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) between 2005 and 2010. He was also President of the Queensland branch of the AIIA. Hildebrand was made a Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in 2016.

AIIA National Vice President Zara Kimpton OAM, remembers Hildebrand as an innovator who improved the governance and practices of the institute. She notes that Hildebrand led the institute to conduct a major review of its business, and that Hildebrand was influential in the decision by the AIIA National Executive in appointing Melissa Conley Tyler, then the youngest and to date the longest-serving national executive director of the institute.

Hildebrand was an industry executive, active in mining. Born in Gladstone Queensland in 1937, then educated at Yeronga State and Brisbane Grammar Schools, University of Queensland (BE (Mining)) and as Queensland 1960 Rhodes Scholar at Oxford (MA (PPE)), he started his mineral industry career as a miner at Mount Isa. He later lived in Melbourne (twice), Sydney, Johannesburg and Brisbane.

He was the managing director of coal company QCT resources. After retiring from QCT in 1994, he took up the directorship or chair of a number of public companies and other organisations and, as Chair of the Sugar R&D Corporation from 1995 to 2002, he published his independent assessment of the sugar industry, commissioned by then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Warren Truss MP.

He had an ongoing involvement in higher education, latterly with Griffith University as council member for eight years from 1989, honorary professor in business-related schools since 1995, member of the Griffith University Quality Committee during quality audits of Australian universities in the early 1990s and a member of the advisory board of the Key Centre of Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance. In 1999 he was awarded DUniv (Doctor of the University) by Griffith. He was a member of the State Ministerial advisory body on public health, Health Promotion Queensland.

Words from Elizabeth Kiss, CEO & Warden of Rhodes House

On behalf of all of us at the Rhodes Trust, I am heartbroken to share that Eusebius McKaiser (South Africa-at-Large & St Antony's 2003) passed away yesterday from an apparent epileptic seizure. He was taken from us tragically young, at the age of 45.

We all feel this loss especially keenly, as Eusebius has been serving as co-chair, along with Karen Stevenson (North Carolina & Magdalen 1979) of our Engaging Our History advisory group which is in the final stages of completing its work.

We’ve lost an important, fiercely independent political voice – who spoke truth to power from a deeply personal and humane space. Eusebius embraced his own vulnerabilities and encouraged us all to do the same; whilst challenging us to interrogate our biases and then sit and grapple with the discomfort we might feel. He was larger than life, and the hole he leaves will be similarly immense.

He was a prolific writer and broadcaster, well known across South Africa and beyond for his astute political commentary, grounded in his academic training as a moral philosopher. With his incisive intellect and fearless candour, he laid bare the painful racial inequities and complex dysfunctions of his beloved country with boldness, energy and wit. His work as an LGBTQIA+ activist and educator has also left a profound mark on the gay rights landscape of South Africa.

Combining charisma and eloquence with an enormous heart, Eusebius exemplified the Rhodes Scholarship ideals of kindness, courage and a commitment to fighting the world’s fight. We are so grateful for his willingness to co-chair the Engaging Our History group, for the energy and dedication he brought to this important work, and for his generous spirit of service in all of the other volunteer roles he took on, from selection to mentoring to name just a few.

I extend heartfelt condolences to his partner Nduduzo, their family and friends, and to all who knew and admired Eusebius and his work. We will forever be grateful for his leadership and friendship, and will continue to be inspired by his example. The best tribute is to pick up where he left off – to speak truth to power, be fearless, be vulnerable, be courageous, and never stop reading and learning.