Adrian William David Cowan, known as ‘Eddy’, was chief of the department of periodontology at Dublin Dental Hospital, a consultant oral surgeon in the city, and dean of the faculty of dental surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. He was born on 26 August 1919 in Dublin, into an Orthodox Jewish family. His father, Alfred (‘Abe’) Cowan, was a dentist; his mother was Elizabeth (‘Lib’) Cowan née Nurock. The family name Cohen had been changed to Cowan in the early 1900s by Abe and his brothers. Cowan attended St Andrew’s College and Sandford Park School, both in Dublin, and in 1936 went on to study at Trinity College Dublin. He gained a BA in 1939, his BDentSc in 1941 and qualified as a doctor in 1943, winning prizes along the way. Cowan joined his father’s dental practice at 19 Harcourt Street, Dublin. He gained the FDSRCS in 1950 – one of the first dental surgeons in Ireland to do so – and developed a large dental practice. He was a visiting dental surgeon and chief of the department of periodontology at Dublin Dental Hospital and a consultant oral surgeon at Royal City of Dublin Hospital, the National Children’s Hospital and Mercer’s Hospital, Dublin. He carried out clinical dental research, particularly on local anaesthesia, wrote more than 40 publications, made films and lectured and gave demonstrations and seminars throughout the world. He taught part-time at the Incorporated Dental Hospital of Ireland and was a lecturer and examiner in dental surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) from 1951 to 1963. At the RCSI he was a founding fellow of the faculty of dentistry (in 1963), the first vice dean (1963 to 1966) and second dean (1966 to 1969). He was president of the odontological section of the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland (from 1957 to 1959) and also a fellow, and was president of the Irish Dental Association (from 1977 to 1978). He was on the list of honour of the Fédération Dentaire Internationale (FDI), the first Irishman to be so honoured, and became a member, then vice chairman and finally chairman of the FDI's commission on dental education (from 1964 to 1970). He was a fellow of the American College of Dentists, the British Association of Oral Surgeons and the International College of Dentists, a member of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, which recognises leaders in the dental profession, and an honorary member of the American Dental Association and the International Association of Dental Research. He enjoyed music, art, travel, playing golf and being with his family. In 1943 he married Phyllis Boland. They had four children. Pam, Gillian (Gilly), David and Peter. Peter also became a dental surgeon and followed his father as dean of the faculty of dentistry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Sadly, Cowan suffered from Parkinson’s Disease during his final years. He died on 18 November 1996 at the age of 77. The Adrian Cowan medal was established by the Cowan family in his memory and is awarded to the best fourth year undergraduate student in the Dublin Dental School.