Alder was born in Victoria, Australia and educated at Melbourne graduating from the University in 1949. After holding resident posts at the Prince Henry (1949-50) and Royal Children's (1951) hospitals, he came to England in 1953, served as Nuffield Demonstrator of Anatomy at Oxford, and took the Fellowship in 1954. He returned to Melbourne and was appointed Demonstrator of Surgical Anatomy at the University, and then became assistant surgeon to Prince Henry's and the Alfred Hospital. Determining to specialise in urology, he was appointed assistant urologist at Prince Henry's and the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1956. He was also a consulting urologist to the Royal Australian Navy and the Naval Volunteer Reserve, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Australasian and the American Colleges of Surgeons. Alder practised at 77 High Street, Kew, living next door at No 79. Publications: Transurethral or open operation in prostatic obstruction? *Med J Aust* 1957, 1, 636-8. The growth of the muscle tibialis anterior in the normal rabbit in relation to the tension- length ratio. *Proc Royal Soc* London. 1958, B148, 207-16.