Benalla’s Debbie Callister visited Ballarat on Wednesday, May 1 to present a scholarship in honour of her late father.
While Cyril Callister’s name might not be that well known, a good portion of the population will have sampled his greatest invention, Vegemite.
Debbie is a board member of the Cyril Callister Foundation, which was established in 2019 to celebrate the life, work and scientific legacy of the Australian chemist and food scientist.
She presented the first scholarship to Samual Varjabedran who is studying at Federation University, where Cyril himself studied in the early 1900s.
When the salty black paste first rolled off the production line in 1923, Australians hated it.
Today, it can be found in eight out of 10 Australian pantries and fridges.
Vegemite’s rise from zero to national icon spanned two world wars, a depression and a polio epidemic.
It’s a lesson in what can be achieved with perseverance, resilience and integrity.
The Cyril Callister Foundation aims to tell his inspirational and largely unknown story.
The foundation runs the Cyril Callister Museum in the historic town of Beaufort, north-west of Melbourne, near where Cyril and his siblings were raised.
It has recently established the scholarship program, which is aimed at encouraging young Australians to study and engage with science and history.
The foundation is not for profit and a portion of what it raises is put into the scholarship fund in the hope that young people from regional Australia can follow in Cyril’s footsteps and have an opportunity at a University education.
The museum is operated by Cyril’s grandson Jamie Callister, who said the scholarship is a fitting legacy that honours his grandfather’s achievements.
“In 1949 he made a donation to Federation University, then the Ballarat School of Mines, with a promise to visit,” Jamie said.
“However, he never got the opportunity as he passed away later that year.
“This scholarship is therefore entirely appropriate, and he would be extremely honoured to play a part in inspiring young scientists to discover and follow their own path.”
Find out more about the foundation, and Cyril’s life via cyrilcallisterfoundation.org/