World-renowned vascular surgeon, Professor Roger M. Greenhalgh, was conferred with an Honorary Fellowship of RCSI today at the College’s Postgraduate Conferring Ceremony.

Born in Derbyshire in 1941, Professor Greenhalgh completed his medical education from Clare College in Cambridge and St Thomas’ Hospital in London. In 1976 he was appointed consultant and senior lecturer at Charing Cross hospital and medical school, where he became Professor of Surgery in 1981.

Since then, Professor Greenhalgh has consistently contributed to surgery worldwide and has been the most important driving force behind a number of multi-centre clinical trials which have proven to be of seminal importance in vascular surgery.

He has held a number of positions including former President of the Vascular Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland; a board member of the experts group of the Medical Research Council; President of Surgery of EUMS; President of the European Society of Vascular Surgery and the first chairman of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Vascular Surgery. He is also the recipient of over a dozen surgical societies including the vascular surgical societies of the USA, South Africa, Canada, Germany and Brazil and Honorary Fellowships from Edinburgh, Warsaw and Greece.

Giving his citation, Kevin O’Malley said: “We are recognising one of the leading figures of vascular surgery in the last 30 years. Roger is a complete surgeon. He has a well justified reputation as a superior technical surgeon and has been effective at the highest echelons of management and administration in both university circles and the NHS. He is a committed educationalist and delights in teaching whether it is with the most junior of students or appearing on the international stage."

He continued: “The number of guest appearances he has made at premier international meetings is quite staggering and indeed Roger is probably at his entertaining and educational best when chairing contentious debates. To complete the picture he has an outstanding record of achievement in clinical and experimental surgical research.”

Approximately 160 students were conferred with postgraduate awards at yesterday’s ceremony including Intercollegiate Board Speciality Diplomas in cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, plastic surgery; trauma and orthopaedic surgery, urology and both Intercollegiate Memberships and Memberships of the RCSI. New Members and Fellows of the Faculties of Radiology, Dentistry and Sports and Exercise Medicine were also conferred.