The Origin of the Name

The name “Longford” comes from the Irish word “Longfort” which means fortification. Fortification comes from the Latin word “to make strong”. To develop psychologically strong young men is our aim.

The name “Fraser” is named after Dr. Bruce Fraser, an Australian biophysicist and scientific hero who studied at Kings College Cambridge and whose models of DNA contributed to the discovery of the structure of DNA and RNA.

Watson and Crick based much of their work on Fraser’s DNA structure and Fraser’s discovery of the chemistry of the base pairing inside the helix. Watson and Crick won the Nobel Prize in 1962 for “discovering” the structure of DNA. They only begrudgingly acknowledged Fraser’s work. It was actually Dr. Bruce Fraser in collaboration with Rosalind Franklin (who died from ovarian cancer before the Nobel Prize was awarded), Linus Pauling and Maurice Wilkins (who won the prize jointly with Watson and Crick) who, together, contributed the vital pieces of the jigsaw. Dr. Bruce Fraser has remained very humble and quiet about his contribution.

You might like to read more about his critical scientific contributions here.

Dr. Bruce Fraser emigrated to Australia when he was 28 and was actually born in England. He spent his Australian working life at the CSIRO and contributed greatly to the sequencing of the protein structure of merino wool

Throughout his life, Dr. Fraser has displayed integrity, a strength of character (a backbone), resilience, humility, determination and the courage of his convictions.

It is these qualities that we would like to imbue and nurture in the students at LONGFORD & FRASER Leadership Academy for Boys.