Ken Hobbs was a professor of surgery at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine and a pioneer in the field of liver surgery. He was born in London on 28 December 1936, the son of Thomas Edward Ernest Hobbs and Gladys May Hobbs née Neave. He moved as a child to south Norfolk and attended school in Bury St Edmunds. He went on to Guy’s Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1960. His aim was always to be a clinical academic and, after a series of prestigious junior hospital appointments in London and Bristol, and gaining his FRCS in 1964, Ken became a lecturer in surgery at Bristol in 1966. During this time he went to Harvard as a senior research fellow and went back to Bristol to a senior lecturer appointment in 1970. In 1973 he was appointed to the inaugural chair in surgery at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine with a focus on liver disease and transplantation, working closely with Sheila Sherlock in the medical unit. He built up the academic department on the Hampstead campus with particularly memorable Friday morning grand rounds that were open to students and staff. Early on he displayed his passion for the education of both undergraduates and postgraduates with various roles at the Royal Free and University of London, culminating in his appointment as dean of the faculty of medicine, University of London (from 1994 to 1998). In his last few years of practice, and well into retirement, he served on committees of the General Medical Council, becoming the deputy chair of the professional conduct committee and then co-chair of the professional standards committee. He was a key medical panellist on the inquiry into the deaths of children at Bristol Royal Infirmary following heart surgery. In addition to this full schedule of activities, Ken authored over 100 papers and numerous textbook chapters. One of Ken’s great passions was travel, and international clinical practice and academic links were central to this facet of his life. He trained a cohort of surgeons who went on to be senior clinicians and academics in their own countries and he was awarded many international degrees and accolades for his work. In addition, he was a UK member and subsequent chair of a Swiss organisation, the Stanley Thomas Johnson Foundation, which provides funds for aid, medicine and the arts. He returned to Norfolk in 1988, entertaining friends and colleagues with his superb culinary creations and, after retirement, travelled to India and other continents extensively. He was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2021 and died peacefully at home in July 2022. He was 85.