‘Deadly’ chutzpah! A life unbounded
Published in The Australian Jewish News
February 25, 2021
To describe Lisa Jackson Pulver as an “inspiration” seems overly simplistic, a trite and lacklustre attempt at neatly containing her and her many triumphs to a neat box.
Some people cannot be so easily contained – and it is difficult to find one word that truly encapsulates all that she is.
So here are a few: Resilient domestic abuse survivor. Ambitious nurse. Social justice warrior. Progressive epidemiologist. Committed professor. Resolute activist.
A Jewish and Wiradjuri Koori woman.
In fact, Lisa Jackson Pulver is the first known Aboriginal person to have received a PhD in medicine.
And with a Member of the Order of Australia in tow, she holds the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous Strategy and Services, at the University of Sydney.
But in our early morning Zoom meeting, she is just Lisa. Unassuming, in a black turtleneck, she potters around the kitchen of her office, making a cup of tea. She is chatty, familiar and down to earth, as she searches for a quiet space for our conversation, settling upon a modest shared office nook.