A repertoire of influence

Abstract

My first recollection of Prof Barry Schoub was at a National Institute for Virology (NIV) journal club in November 1994. At that time, I was a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand and spending two to three days a week at the AIDS Research Unit at the NIV. This was my first experience of a journal club at the NIV, and I was struck how the Director of the NIV was rolling up his sleeves and presenting a paper to the gathered staff. Through my own myopic research and academic background, which had shaped my expectations where Directors or Professors didn’t seem to become involved with equal dialogue with fellow colleagues, this first impression was to be the most lasting I have of Barry: down to earth, ready to become involved and not bound by ego. This memory of academic equality, not limited by position, has been a role model for my own involvement with leadership.