Born the eldest child of Henry Bulman and his wife Margaret, an Oxford graduate; his brother was Professor of Geology at Cambridge and his sister a gifted journalist and linguist, who wrote the life of the Swedish singer Jenny Lind. He was educated at Battersea Grammar School and the London Hospital. His studies were interrupted by the first world war during which he served as a Surgeon Probationer in destroyers of the Royal Navy. After qualifying he held several resident posts at the London Hospital, one of which was as house surgeon to James Sherren. He became FRCS and MS in 1923, and was then appointed resident surgical officer to Salford Royal Hospital, where he worked in close association with Garnett Wright and Geoffrey Jefferson. In 1924 he was appointed honorary assistant surgeon to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. The following year he took the MD in Midwifery and Diseases of Women, and then specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology; he was the first in East Anglia to do so, and he founded the gynaecological and obstetrical department at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. Michael Bulman was noted for the neatness of his surgical technique and for his imperturbability under adverse conditions. He was held in high regard by his medical colleagues in Norfolk both as a surgeon and for his integrity. His quiet manner and charm concealed his intellectual and administrative gifts. In spite of a busy professional life he undertook numerous public duties. He was a City Councillor and Chairman of the Norfolk Agricultural Wages Committee and of the Post War Development Committee. He was elected Lord Mayor of Norwich, an office giving scope for his wide knowledge of affairs, to which his logical mind gave easy expression in his speeches. As Lord Mayor he put forward the claim for a University for Norwich, and lived to see his dream fulfilled in the University of East Anglia. His year of office coincided with the tercentenary of Norwich, Connecticut, and, with his wife, he crossed the Atlantic to represent the Mother City at the celebrations. He made a deep impression on his American hosts and established a permanent link between the two cities. In addition Michael Bulman was an enthusiastic gardener and photographer. Michael Bulman married Muriel, daughter of Professor Hewlett of King's College, London; their son Geoffrey, who is also a Fellow of the College, is an orthopaedic surgeon.