Brian Buxton was born at Melbourne on 15 April 1940, and attended Scotch from 1946 to 1956. At school, he showed some leadership skills in cricket – captaining several teams in the early years – then matriculated with first class honours in mathematics and chemistry. After Scotch, Brian studied medicine at The University of Melbourne, graduating in 1962. On 5 February 1966, he married Pamela Ann Habersberger at Scotch. His postgraduate career started at Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he specialised in surgery, gaining Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgery in 1967 at the age of only 27. His medical career subsequently was one of brilliance. After training in vascular then cardiac surgery in Glasgow and USA, preceded by a period in the Civil Aid Service during the Vietnam war, he was appointed to the Austin Hospital in 1978 as vascular and cardiac surgeon. His work there won him international acclaim. Brian was an extremely gifted surgeon, able to operate with equal skill with either hand (a great advantage when in cramped spaces around the heart). His academic achievements were highly influential, through his books and scientific papers. His clinical trial on the replacement of diseased coronary arteries with the radial artery was the largest in the world at the time, and greatly advanced the success of coronary artery surgery. In 2004 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia: For service to medicine, particularly as an adviser on the development of cardiac surgery in Asia and through training programs for overseas surgeons. Cardiac surgeons throughout Asia and their patients are forever in his debt for the skills he taught them. Despite his hectic professional life, Brian still found time for one of his enduring loves: camping and sailing with his children and grandchildren. He died in Melbourne on 20 May 2022, after a long illness. In June, Austin Hospital announced that it had named its Department of Cardiac & Thoracic Aortic Surgery in his honour. Brian Buxton is missed by so many here and around the world.