Sir Norman Browse was a general and peripheral vascular surgeon of considerable academic achievement who not only became internationally known in his specialty, but was also renowned for his superlative operative technique, his exceptional ability to spot potential flaws in research presentations and his lasting influence on large numbers of medical students and surgical trainees by virtue of his undergraduate and postgraduate textbooks. He was elected president of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1992, serving for three years, during which time he instigated important changes in the organisation of the College, especially in regard to examinations and research. Norman was born in East Ham, London on 1 December 1931, the younger son of Reginald Dederic Browse, a civil servant, and Margaret Browse née Gillis, a shorthand typist. He was a wartime evacuee from London to Brighton, but his primary school there moved to Camberley when the risk of a cross channel invasion became high. He won a scholarship to East Ham Grammar School, where he played the clarinet in the school orchestra and sang in the local choir. He proceeded to St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School, winning a prize in anatomy. He qualified in 1955. After house jobs in Winchester and Shrewsbury, he took time out to study for the primary fellowship, passing first time. He was then called up for National Service, serving for two years in the RAMC, first in Cyprus and then Benghazi, becoming a junior surgical specialist with the rank of captain. On demobilisation he passed his final FRCS in 1959 and became a senior house officer on the professorial unit at Bristol Royal Infirmary. Then followed registrar training in Southmead Hospital, Bristol, where he was especially influenced by Joe Peacock and Robert Milnes Walker. In 1962, he became a lecturer/senior registrar to Harold Ellis at Westminster Hospital and in 1964 was awarded a Harkness scholarship to pursue research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, USA. Here he worked under the supervision of John Shepherd studying vein and cardiac reflexes. This research resulted in several publications in the *American Journal of Physiology* and an Arris and Gale lecture in 1966 published in the *Annals* of the Royal College of Surgeons (‘The veins and cardiovascular reflexes’ *Ann R Coll Surg Engl*. 1968 May;42[5]:307-21). On his return to the UK in 1965 he was appointed as an assistant director and consultant to the surgical unit at St Thomas’ Hospital by John Kinmonth. He remained at that hospital for the rest of his career, becoming a reader in 1965 and a professor in 1972. Along the way, in 1961 he obtained his MD on aspects of calf blood flow after surgery, which led to his first book *The physiology and pathology of bed rest* (C C Thomas), published in 1965. Then followed a stellar academic career in vascular and lymphatic surgery while always maintaining his outstanding technical skills in general surgery. Even as a registrar his precocious operative technique and neatness of dissection were quickly noticed. He quickly established a vascular laboratory at St Thomas’ employing a succession of research registrars and from which emerged over 300 original articles on venous physiology, thrombosis, ulceration and pulmonary embolus; lymphatic physiology and lymphatic disease; arterial insufficiency, atherosclerosis, cerebrovascular physiology, carotid endarterectomy, aneurysms and vascular malformations together with numerous chapters on these topics in various textbooks. Unsurprisingly, he was in demand as a lecturer, being a visiting professor on more than 30 occasions in countries throughout the world and giving many named lectures. His major textbooks on these subjects include *Diseases of the veins: pathology, diagnosis and treatment* (London, Edward Arnold, 1988), *Carotid endarterectomy: a practical guide* (Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann, 1997) and *Diseases of the lymphatics* (London, Arnold, 2003). His reputation in vascular surgery led to his appointment in 1980 as consultant vascular surgeon to the Army and in 1982 as a consultant vascular surgeon to the Royal Air Force. He became president of the European Society for Cardiovascular Surgery in 1982 and of the Association of Professors of Surgery in 1985, chairman of the British Atherosclerosis Society in 1988, president of the Surgical Research Society in 1990 and president of the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1991. Numerous honorary memberships and fellowships of international surgical societies were showered upon him. Two that he especially valued were the distinguished alumnus of the Mayo Clinic (1993) and master surgeon of the International College of Surgeons (1994). Apart from his academic career, Norman Browse was a noted teacher of both undergraduates and surgical trainees. His ward rounds were extremely popular and were notable for his insistence on taking detailed histories and the careful eliciting of physical signs. He realised there was a gap in the market for a textbook covering these subjects and wrote *An introduction to the symptoms and signs of surgical disease* (London, Arnold, 1978), a publication which has had enduring popularity, running to a sixth edition (with new editors) in 2020. He followed this up with another highly popular teaching manual *Browse’s introduction to the investigation and management of surgical disease* (London, Hodder Arnold, 2010). He was a member of the court of examiners of the Royal College of Surgeons for six years before being elected to the council in 1986, where he became chairman of the examinations committee and then chairman of the academic board. He was elected president in 1992 and set out his vision for the future in the *College and Faculty Bulletin* under the title ‘Setting the agenda’ (*Ann.RCSEng* Supp1992,74,121-5). In this article, he examined each of the College boards, describing the ways in which they needed to change and the methods by which he wished to achieve such change. During the three years of his presidency, aided by his council, he achieved virtually all of his many objectives as recorded in an article ‘Review – the past three years’ (*Ann.RCSEng* Supp 1995,77,176-9). His most notable achievements included revision of the examination system by the abolition of the primary FRCS and the introduction of the MRCS diploma; the abolition of the Hunterian Institute and its associated research departments within the College with replacement by the research fellowship scheme, enabling funded research to be carried out in academic departments throughout the country; the development of a new education department providing courses, workshops and masterclasses; and, not least, a complete reorganisation of the College finances, turning a year-on-year annual deficit into a balanced budget. These changes turned a somewhat inward looking organisation only known by many for its difficult examinations into an outward looking institution relevant to the late 20th century and beyond. His one failure was his wish to transform the Hunterian Museum from being a shrine to John Hunter into a museum relevant to modern surgery. Unfortunately, this desire led to a serious clash with the then Hunterian trustees, which was not resolved until ten years later when a redesigned museum opened in 2005. Be that as it may, the College will remember Sir Norman as being one of its most innovative and successful presidents. In 1957, Norman married Joan Audrey (née Menage), known as Jeanne, who had parental roots in Alderney. They met while both were medical students at Barts; Jeanne later worked for many years in accident and emergency medicine. They had two children, Sarah, a marketing executive, and Dominic, a consultant surgeon. They holidayed in Alderney for many years before moving permanently from the mainland to the island when Norman retired in 1996. Here he took a close interest in local affairs, becoming chairman of the Alderney Maritime Trust while updating and editing new editions of his textbooks. Perhaps not surprisingly given his abilities, in 2002 Norman was elected president of the States of Alderney, serving nine years, finishing in 2011 at the age of 80. His interests were sailing (he owned a Norfolk Oystercatcher), collecting marine art, golf and reading. Jeanne died suddenly in 2018 and Norman never really recovered from the loss. He died after a short illness on 12 September 2019 aged 87.