Doug Tracy was foundation professor of surgery at the University of New South Wales at St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney from 1969 to 1986. He was born in Sydney on 14 May 1926, the eldest of three sons of Haydn Douglas Tracy and Florence Tracy née McCarthy. His mother died in childbirth when he was just seven, and his father's work at an oil company meant the family had to move frequently around the country. Tracy completed his high school education at Taree, and won a scholarship to Sydney University to study medicine. He qualified in 1948 and became an intern at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. Deciding on a surgical career, he went to England as a ship's surgeon and passed the FRCS in 1955. Whilst in London he worked as a researcher under the pioneering vascular surgeon John Kinmonth at St Thomas' Hospital. He carried out further training at Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. On his return to Australia, he was appointed as an assistant to Frank Rundle at Royal North Shore Hospital. He later became Rundle's junior partner. In 1959 Tracy was appointed as head of the department of surgery at the University of New South Wales' new medical school, based at Prince Henry Hospital. When St Vincent's Hospital transferred from Sydney University to the University of New South Wales in 1969, he became the foundation professor of surgery there and developed an outstanding vascular surgical department. He wrote many journal articles and book chapters on vascular surgery, surgical education and history. In 1968, he led the first civilian surgical team to Vung Tau, South Vietnam, for three months and later served as a colonel in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps Reserve for six years. At the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, he was a councillor (from 1968 to 1981), chairman of the board of examiners (from 1972 to 1977) and president (from 1979 to 1981). He was also president of the Surgical Research Society of Australasia (in 1968) and chairman of the Australian and New Zealand chapter of the International Cardiovascular Surgical Society. In 1979, he was a Sir Arthur Sims Commonwealth travelling professor, lecturing in southern Africa, the UK and Ireland. He was a visiting professor in Seattle, Cleveland, North Carolina, Nashville and Hong Kong, and became an honorary member of the American Society for Vascular Surgery. In 1985, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. He enjoyed golf, tennis and painting, and wrote *Golf dissected by a surgeon*, as well as a volume of autobiography, *Inside the ropes: a surgeon's life* (Temple House, 2008). Doug Tracy died from cancer on 9 April 2009 at the age of 82. He was survived by his widow Nola (née Buckley), to whom he had been married for 59 years, their seven children (Vicki, Steven, Lyn, Jo, Louise, Jackie and Patrick) and eight grandchildren.