Kenneth Gerald Rotter was born in Bexley, Kent, on 8 April 1912, the son of Dr Godfrey Rotter CB, CBE, GM, a research chemist and the Head of Woolwich Arsenal, and Gertrude, née Plank. He was educated at the City of London School and St Bartholomew's Hospital where he qualified MRCS LRCP in 1936 and obtained his MB BS (London) in the same year. After training at the Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in Golden Square he passed the DLO in 1939. During the second world war he served as a major in the RAMC, specializing in otolaryngology in Northern Ireland and India and, on release, decided to train in the specialty. He obtained his Fellowship of the College in 1947 and was appointed as registrar at the West London Hospital, where he later became a consultant. Subsequently he was appointed to the staff of the Royal National Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital. Kenneth Rotter was an extremely kind and gentle man, most unassuming, beloved by both patients and staff. He was an excellent technical surgeon both of the ear and the head and neck, and was a fine teacher. He was never ruffled or hurried in what he did and his operating sessions were characterized by the amount of work that he managed in a session, always accompanied by his constant good humour. He was never critical of colleagues or his trainees, but he had a delightful quiet sense of humour and his observations were very much to the point. He made original contributions to the management of pharyngeal diverticula and promoted the use of Dohlmann's operation for the condition. He edited the second edition of *Ear nose and throat surgery for nurses*. In his retirement he served briefly as a short term consultant at King's College Hospital, and in Jersey. His hobbies were carpentry, sailing and gardening. He married Doreen Caddlea in 1941 and they had a son, John, and a daughter, Margaret. He died suddenly on 18 January 1994, survived by his wife and family.