John Bulman was born in 1933 in Twickenham. After education as a scholarship pupil at Christ’s Hospital, from 1953 to 1955, he was a National Serviceman in the Fighter Control Branch of the RAF. John then studied dentistry at the London Hospital, graduating in 1959. After a house post and with the encouragement of the dental sub-dean, Neil Livingstone Ward, he gained a Fulbright Travelling Scholarship to become a Postgraduate Fellow at the Forsyth Dental Infirmary for Children in Boston. He returned as junior lecturer in conservation and children’s dentistry, just as community and public health dentistry, including epidemiology, were advancing. The London and John played major roles in their development. Professor Geoffrey Slack agreed with the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust to undertake a feasibility study for a survey of dental health and attitudes. John became the senior research fellow, beginning his renowned public health career in a custom-designed mobile examination trailer towed by a Land Rover. In November 1961, John married American Judith Connors who he met whilst at the Forsyth. They returned to England amidst the last London ‘pea-souper’ fog, and snow on the ground for four months. Judith became John’s assistant. After five months in Salisbury, John went to Darlington, gathering data from contrasting northern and southern populations, acquiring a PhD in 1971. His report paved the way for the first national adult dental survey: John was responsible for the dental planning and organisation. He was also involved in one of the many 1970’s fluoride dentifrice trials. He became Senior Lecturer in Community Dental Health. John later transferred to the Eastman Dental Institute as reader and honorary consultant in dental public health and ran a renowned MSc course in DPH, for which he was a highly popular teacher. He was much in demand as a lecturer in the UK and abroad. John’s expertise in statistics developed on the back of epidemiology was widely in demand to help other researchers. John Stacy Bulman died on 21 January 2020.