
McKellar, Geoffrey Michael William (1949 - 2013)
Asset Name:
E010342 - McKellar, Geoffrey Michael William (1949 - 2013)
Title:
McKellar, Geoffrey Michael William (1949 - 2013)
Author:
Sarah Gillam
Identifier:
RCS: E010342
Publisher:
The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2023-07-07
Subject:
Description:
Obituary for McKellar, Geoffrey Michael William (1949 - 2013), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
IsPartOf Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Date of Birth:
13 December 1949
Place of Birth:
Brisbane Queensland Australia
Date of Death:
4 April 2013
Place of Death:
Sydney New South Wales Australia
Occupation:
Titles/Qualifications:
BDS Queensland 1972
MDSc Melbourne
FRACDS 1984
FRACDS (OMS) 1985
FDSRCS 2006
Details:
Geoffrey Michael William McKellar was an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was born in Brisbane, Queensland on 13 December 1949, the son of Geoff and Maureen McKellar, and grew up in the suburb of Corinda with his parents and younger brother and sister. As an adolescent he was an accomplished Australian Rules footballer and cricketer. After leaving Corinda High School, he worked for a year in the harbours and marine department before starting his studies at the faculty of dentistry, University of Queensland, where he finished near the top of his year in 1972.
Following posts in Brisbane and Hobart, he started training in oral and maxillofacial surgery in Melbourne, qualifying with an MDSc. He subsequently passed the fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons in 1984 and the specialist oral and maxillofacial surgery fellowship in 1985.
In 1981 he was appointed as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at Westmead Hospital, Sydney, soon after the hospital had been commissioned. He was also involved in undergraduate and postgraduate dental and medical teaching. He was appointed head of the department in 1994 and became an associate professor at the University of Sydney in 1988. He also had a successful private practice in Westmead with an emphasis on orthognathic surgery.
His research interests were wide and included: tissue engineering and regenerative medicine; the use of biodegradable materials in facial reconstruction; orthognathic surgery and distraction osteogenesis; the use of botulinum toxin in the management of maxillofacial disorders; TMJ prosthetic reconstruction; and cleft lip and palate surgery, demonstrated by his 20-year involvement in the Operation Restore Hope mission in Cebu, Philippines.
He was a federal councillor and treasurer for the Australian and New Zealand Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. At the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (RACDS), he was chair of the oral and maxillofacial surgery accreditation committee (from 1994 to 1997) and of the board of studies of oral and maxillofacial surgery (from 1999 to 2001). He was a respected examiner for universities and RACDS and lectured at international conferences. In 2006 he became a fellow of the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
He was well respected by his colleagues for his surgical skills and compassion for patients and for his generosity in giving his time to all who asked for his advice and help.
McKellar died on 4 April 2013 in Sydney aged 63. He was survived by his wife Ann, children David and Katie and grandchildren Alessandra, William and Samuel.
Sources:
RACDS https://web.archive.org/web/20141023124208/http://www.racds.org/documents/GEOFFREY%20MICHAEL%20WILLIAM%20MCKELLAR.pdf – accessed 9 September 2025; Geoffrey McKellar The Sydney Morning Herald April 12, 2013 https://tributes.theage.com.au/au/obituaries/theage-au/name/geoffrey-mckellar-obituary?id=44405979 – accessed 9 September 2025.
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010300-E010399