Joseph Reginald Moore was a professor of oral surgery at Manchester University. He was born in Lima, Peru on 24 February 1919, the son of Marguerite Moore née Cohu, who was French, and Reginald Alfred Moore, an Englishman. He spent his early years in Peru, France and Spain until the family settled in Birmingham. His ambition was to go into the military, but his parents persuaded him to go to Birmingham University to study medicine and dentistry. After failing all his exams, he left university, and his parents agreed he could enter Sandhurst Military Academy. At the start of the Second World War, he was commissioned into the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. He went to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force, returning to England with the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940. He then trained with Combined Operations in Scotland. His beach landing group subsequently made three landings in Italy, at Pachino, Salerno and Anzio. When the Italian king surrendered, Moore became a liaison officer involved with reforming the Italian army. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was twice mentioned in despatches. After the war, Moore decided to return to Birmingham Dental School and qualified in 1950. He held training posts in oral surgery in Birmingham and rapidly gained a consultant appointment at Sunderland and Carlisle. He then decided he wanted to go into teaching, and became a senior lecturer at University College Hospital, London. Here he completed his masters of dental surgery and wrote a book *Principles of oral surgery* (Pergamon, 1965). Promoted to reader, he was subsequently appointed to the newly created chair of oral surgery at Manchester. At Manchester he reorganised the oral surgery course and became dean of the dental school, introducing a number of changes including a rotating deanship, believing this would help bring in new ideas. He went on to become pro vice chancellor and dean of the medical school. He also served on the University Grants Committee of the UK and of Hong Kong. On retirement, he was appointed chairman of North Manchester Health Authority. In his free time, he was a member of the Territorial Army, becoming an honorary colonel of 207 Territorial Army Unit (medical). He ran marathons, walked and, when he was fully retired, took up art. Moore died at home on 28 April 2012 at the age of 93. He was survived by his wife of 66 years, Jane, a son, daughter and grandson.