Roger Neale Baird was a consultant in vascular surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary. He was born on 24 December 1941 in Edinburgh and attended the University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine and graduated with the MB ChB. His surgical training in Edinburgh was undertaken under the supervision of several distinguished teachers, including Archie Macpherson, Sir John Bruce, Sir James Fraser and Sir Michael Woodruff. In 1973 he moved to Bristol as a senior surgical trainee. The following year he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, where he worked under the supervision of Bill Abbot on the mechanical properties of vascular grafts. On returning to Bristol, he was appointed as a consultant and senior lecturer in Joe Peacock’s department at Bristol Royal Infirmary. In collaboration with Peter Wells, a medical physicist, he established one of the first vascular laboratories in the United Kingdom. Their joint research into the diagnostic use of ultrasound in vascular disease helped to pioneer non-invasive vascular imaging and influenced practice internationally. In 1984, having seen the potential of computerised clinical audit systems developed in the United States, Baird initiated the creation of a local vascular database in Bristol. Working with Australian research fellow Glen Benveniste, he developed the Bristol Integrated Prospective Audit System (BIPAS), which provided a model for clinical audit and supported numerous publications on vascular disease. Under his guidance, the Bristol Royal Infirmary became recognised as one of the leading vascular surgical centres in the United Kingdom. Baird’s academic record was exceptional for a full-time NHS surgeon, comprising more than 160 publications and several book chapters. Of the 40 trainees and research fellows he supervised, seven went on to hold chairs in vascular surgery. He was an honorary fellow of the Society for Vascular Surgery (USA) and an honorary member of the European Society for Vascular Surgery, which he helped to establish. In 2001 he served as president of the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, chairing its annual scientific meeting in Brighton. He also served on the committee of the Circulation Foundation and was a member of the Association of International Vascular Surgeons (AIVS). He enjoyed skiing and was a regular contributor to AIVS, whose academic activities were centred around a well-attended annual ski meeting. Beyond his professional work, Baird contributed to civic and charitable life in Bristol. He was president of the Dolphin Society, a charity supporting the elderly, and chaired the board of trustees and council of the Bristol, Clifton and West of England Zoological Society (Bristol Zoo). In 2006 he was appointed high sheriff of Bristol. He met Affra Varcoe-Cocks when they were medical students in Edinburgh. They married in 1968 and she went on to become a consultant radiologist. They had a daughter, Susie, and a son, Richard, also medically qualified. He died on 11 May 2024 at the age of 82. Roger Neale Baird’s career was marked by technical skill, innovation and a capacity to unite clinical practice with academic enquiry. He made a lasting contribution to the development of vascular surgery in Britain.