A trauma surgeon, Emin Alpar was a former medical director of the Birmingham Accident Hospital. He was born on 30 August 1943, in Istanbul, Turkey, the son of Mithat Alpar, an industrialist, and Nevin Alpar, a housewife. He was educated at Ankara College, where he gained a baccalaureate in 17 subjects, and went on to study medicine at Ankara University. In 1966 he graduated with first class honours. He trained in surgery at Bristol, the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Oswestry, Liverpool and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York. He was particularly influenced by Donal Brooks, Robert Owen and Sir Reginald Watson-Jones. In 1973 he returned to Turkey to complete his National Service, working as a consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the Sarikamis Military Hospital. In 1975 he was appointed associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at Hacettepe University. Five years later, in 1980, he transferred to Birmingham, as a senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham department of surgery. He was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Birmingham Accident Hospital (1981), Birmingham General Hospital (1993) and University Hospital Birmingham (1995). From 1990 to 1993 he was medical director of the Birmingham Accident Hospital. In 1994 he set up a MMedSci course in surgery of trauma at the University of Birmingham, and was course director until 2000. He was chairman of the Institute of Accident Surgery from 1993 to 2002. Essentially a trauma surgeon, he felt that the trauma surgeon must be a generalist because trauma does not observe anatomical boundaries. He was particularly interested in the treatment of whiplash injury and the association with atypical carpal tunnel syndrome. A committed teacher and trainer, he was supportive of all staff. As a result of his experience he was much in demand as an expert witness in medico-legal disputes. Alpar played basketball as a young man and enjoyed swimming and walking later in life. He was interested in history and specifically the history of medicine. In 1966 he married Oya, now professor and head of the centre for drug delivery research at the School of Pharmacy, University of London. They divorced in 2003. They had two sons – Bora and Burak, both of whom work in the finance sector. Alpar died early in November 2005.