Douglas Robb (surgeon)

Sir George Douglas Robb (1899 to 1974) was a New Zealand surgeon, medical reformer, writer and university chancellor. Born in Auckland on 29 April 1899, he was educated at Auckland Grammar School and took his medical degrees at the University of Otago. He gained a reputation as a maverick who pushed against the conventional medical establishment, and was influential in founding the Auckland Medical School as part of the University of Auckland. He served as President of the British Medical Association in 1961 and 1962. His honours included the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal in 1953, appointment as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1956 and a knighthood in 1960. A contemporary described him as becoming a foremost thoracic surgeon and a leader in medical education and research, and he published an autobiography, Medical Odyssey, in 1967.