As a highly accomplished oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Melbourne, Bob Cook was a major figure and leader of the specialty at a local and international level. As a teacher and mentor to many trainees and junior surgeons, he was president of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons from 1992 to 1995. Robert (Bob) Cook was born in Bluff, on the southern coast of New Zealand on 12 November 1928 to Edward (Ted) and Jessie Cook. In 1936 the family moved to the eastern suburbs of Melbourne so his father Ted could take up the role of general manager of the Commercial Bank of Australia. On arrival, Bob attended Camberwell High School, before completing his secondary education at Scotch College from 1943 until 1947. An energetic and active student, Bob participated in a range of sports including cricket, football, athletics and particularly liked team activities, where, as an only child, he could thrive in the camaraderie of a team environment. Bob was accepted to study dentistry at the University of Melbourne in 1948. He attended both Mildura and Melbourne campuses and, in the later years, was a resident of Ormond College. He graduated in 1952. After serving as the first resident dental officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1953, he travelled to the United Kingdom for further surgical training at the Eastman Dental Institute in London and Bolton Royal Infirmary and was awarded the FDSRCS in 1956. When Bob completed his MDSc in oral surgery, he was appointed as an oral surgeon to four Melbourne public hospitals, for which he provided on-call services for facial trauma. Many of these calls were the result of motor vehicle accidents because seatbelts were not common at the time and drivers and passengers were often propelled through the windscreen during an accident. Eventually Bob restricted his trauma load to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he subsequently became head of the unit in 1971, a position he held until 1988. In this post he supervised the training of a generation of oral and maxillofacial surgeons in Victoria. Bob was an innovative surgeon who advanced the care and correction of patients with acquired or developmental facial injuries. In 1964, following a study visit to Hugo Obwegeser’s unit in Zurich, he performed the first mandibular osteotomy in Australia, several years before these procedures were adopted in the United States. This early pioneering work set the scene for the rapidly developing field of orthognathic surgery, in collaboration with orthodontists. He was also part of the development of the multidisciplinary care of head and neck cancer patients at the Royal Melbourne Hospital that combined the expertise of general, ENT, plastic and oral and maxillofacial surgeons. Bob was a highly energetic, enthusiastic and thoughtful practitioner and was regarded as a skilful, quick surgeon who led by example. As observed by many of his colleagues, he had a steel trap memory for detail, recalling names of those he met, often only fleetingly. When junior staff hoped they had successfully buried some oversight or error, Bob would unexpectedly pounce with evidence at a later stage, keeping all on their toes. He was the consummate political representative for oral and maxillofacial surgery in the surgical world and was highly respected by other medical groups. As president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Dental Association in 1964 he actively participated in building a relationship between the profession and government through committee work. With others, he was instrumental in establishing and examining for the specialty fellowship in oral and maxillofacial surgery within the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons. Bob served as president of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in 1981 and in 1989 Bob was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his service to dentistry and maxillofacial surgery. He then became the first Australian president of the International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons in 1992, where he served until 1995 and was a wonderful ambassador for Australia. Through his international contacts, he assisted a number of young Australian surgeons to obtain subspecialty fellowships in the UK, USA and Europe. At the University of Melbourne, he taught and examined at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He supported the development of the MDSc in oral and maxillofacial surgery and assisted in guiding the university processes to adopt the fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (in oral and maxillofacial surgery) as a national standard. His lasting legacy at the University of Melbourne is the establishment of the Robert and Gillian Cook family award for enrolled postgraduate students to support research in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Bob’s contribution to Australia extended beyond the surgical world. He served as a surgeon lieutenant commander and consultant surgeon to the Royal Australian Navy and was an active member of Rotary, the Melbourne Club, the Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club and both Flinders and Metropolitan golf clubs. With his wife of almost 60 years, Gillian (née McLean), he maintained an active social and vigorous lifestyle. At their farm in Flinders overlooking Bass Strait, he conducted a successful Simmental cattle breeding programme and won numerous awards at the annual Royal Melbourne Show. They both skied with their international friends well into their mid-eighties; in between everything else Bob was also an accomplished sailor and scuba diver. Bob died on 22 August 2020 at the age of 91. Always a devoted family man, he was survived by his wife, children Hamish, Alistair, Matthew and Kirsten, and nine grandchildren. His broadly rounded life of service and commitment was well-lived. He will be remembered fondly by his family, friends and colleagues.