Robert Pringle was a consultant surgeon in Dundee. He studied medicine in Glasgow, qualifying in 1950, and, after house jobs, completed a four-year short service commission in the RAF, reaching the rank of squadron leader. On leaving the RAF, he specialised in surgery in Glasgow and Newcastle, and was a senior lecturer in surgery at Dundee Royal Infirmary under Sir Donald Douglas, where he carried out research into vagotomy, which became the subject of his thesis. In 1967 he became a consultant at the same hospital, remaining there until he retired in 1992. He was responsible for commissioning the new department of surgery at Ninewells Hospital, which opened in 1974. His interests included upper gastrointestinal surgery, endoscopy, laparoscopy and laser surgery. After he retired, he moved to Kuala Lumpur as head of clinical sciences in the International Medical College, which later became a university. He had many outside interests, including flying, computers, music and golf. He was predeceased by his wife, Margaret. He died after a stroke on 15 February 2009, leaving a son and two daughters.