Lloyd Douglas MacLean was professor of surgery at McGill University and chief of surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was born on 15 June 1924 in Calgary, Alberta, the son of Wilfred and Azilda MacLean. He studied at the University of Alberta on scholarships, graduating with a bachelor of science degree and an MD in 1949. He went on to train as a surgeon at the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Owen Wangensteen. He then moved to a post as chief of surgery at the Ancker Hospital, St Paul, Minnesota. In 1962, he was appointed to McGill University as professor of surgery and chief of surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital. He was chairman of the McGill University department of surgery on three occasions (from 1968 to 1973, 1977 to 1982 and 1987 to 1988). He was the first Edward W Archibald professor in the department of surgery, McGill University from 1987 to 1993. He made significant contributions to the study of shock, peritonitis, host resistance, transplantation and the development of surgery for obesity. He wrote more than 350 publications and was co-editor of the *Canadian Journal of Surgery* for 20 years from 1972. He was president of the American Surgical Association (in 1992), the American College of Surgeons (in 1993), the Central Surgical Association, the International Surgical Group and the James IV Association of Surgeons. He received many honours, including the Gairdner Foundation Wightman Award for his contribution to Canadian medicine and the Officer of the Order of Canada (in 1985). He was made an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1994. Outside medicine, he enjoyed golf, tennis, skiing, hiking, gardening, cycling and photography. Lloyd MacLean died on 14 January 2015. He was 90. He was survived by his wife, Eleanor Colle, professor of pediatrics at McGill, their five children (Hugh, Charles, Ian, James and Martha) and 10 grandchildren.