Wilbert McNeill Orr, known as ‘Willie’, was a renal transplant researcher and surgeon, and later a general surgeon in Manchester. He was born on 3 April 1930 in Trim, County Meath, Ireland, the son of David Orr, a bank manager, and Wilamena McNeill, a teacher. He attended Sligo Grammar School and en

Bert Myburgh was professor of surgery at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. A charismatic and talented surgeon, he was, in his time, South Africa's most renowned surgeon. He was highly regarded throughout the surgical world, and especially within the transplant community. Bert Myburgh w

Jan Nielubowicz was professor of surgery at the Insitute of Surgery at the Hospital of the Infant Jesus in Warsaw. He was born in German-occupied Warsaw during the First World War on 28 October 1915, the son of Kazimierz and Wanda Nielubowicz. He came from a medical family: his father was a surgeon

Jack Jacobson qualified MB BCh Cape Town in 1942. After completing his internship at Groote Schuur Hospital, he served as a captain in the South African Medical Corps between 1943 and 1946. He then made the decision to embark on a career in surgery and after a period of postgraduate training at Guy'

Nick Digard, a native of the Channel Islands, was born on 7 April 1951. His father, Joseph Claude Digard, was a civil servant. His mother, Jean née Hadfield, was a financial administrator. He was educated at Pierre Du Bois School and Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and studied medicine at University Co

Geoff Giles was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, on 17 December 1936. He was educated at Bablake School and then obtained a major scholarship to enter the University of Manchester Medical School, qualifying from there MB ChB in 1960. After spending two years in junior appointments he commenced his in

Derek Sampson was born in London in 1937 and went to medical school in Birmingham where he obtained a BSc in physiology in 1959. After graduating MB, ChB in 1962 he trained in general surgery passing both the English and Edinburgh fellowship examinations. He had developed an interest in transplantat

The son of Herbert Oakley White, a general practitioner-anaesthetist, Humphrey was born in Southampton on 2 September 1932. His mother was Alice F S Tait, the daughter of a general practitioner in Highbury, London. Humphrey was educated at Marlborough and St John's College, Cambridge, from which he

John Redcliffe Salaman was a general surgeon and professor of transplant surgery in Cardiff. The first transplant in Cardiff had been done by David Crosby in 1967. By 1970 it was clear that a dedicated transplant surgeon with an academic interest was required and John Salaman was appointed to this

John Sarkis Najarian was a clinical professor of transplant surgery at the University of Minnesota, USA. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk

Born on 18 April 1907, Joe Luke was the son of Edward Barker Luke, a nurseryman in Ottawa, and Jane née Corbus, the daughter of J R Corbus, a doctor in Chicago. Joe was educated at Montreal West High School and entered McGill University in 1924. After qualifying in 1931, he did a number of junior jo

Donald Golinger was a consultant surgeon at the Royal Perth Hospital. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk