Alexander Kates qualified in medicine from St Bartholomew's Hospital where he was a house surgeon. He became registrar at the Postgraduate Medical School, London, and then consultant in orthopaedic and traumatic surgery to the Kensington and Westminster Area Health Authority. During the second world war he served as a Major in the RAMC. He was a fellow of the RSM and a member of the Heberden Society. His wife, Wendy Elsa, is also a member of the College and holds the DObst of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. She was medical consultant to the London Marriage Guidance Council. Their son, Nicholas Simon qualified MB BS from London in 1976. Alexander Kates died on 1 April 1982.