Professor Spencer Beasley is a paediatric surgeon and paediatric based at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand. He was the Clinical Director of Paediatric Surgery for 29 years, and is currently Clinical Lead, Paediatric Surgery, Wellington Regional Hospital, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand. He is a Clinical Professor of Paediatric Surgery, Christchurch School of Medicine at the University of Otago. His FRACS is endorsed in both general surgery and paediatric surgery, but he has restricted his practice to paediatric surgery since being appointed to the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne in 1985, and then moved to Christchurch in 1996. He is a former Vice-President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and as Chair of its Governance and Advocacy Committee was responsible for the implementation of the Expert Advisory Group recommendations around Discrimination, Bullying and Sexual Harassment (DBSH). His other College roles have included Chair of Professional Development, Chair of the RACS Board of Surgical Education and Training, Chair of the Board in Paediatric Surgery and senior examiner in paediatric surgery, Chair of the Court of Examiners, New Zealand Censor, Surgical Advisor AoNZ, and faculty of the RACS Foundation Surgical Skills course. He was instrumental in developing the RACS “Leadership for surgeons in everyday practice” course. He has been a member of the Australian Male Champions of Change STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics) group which is focussed on improving gender equity and facilitating increased diversity; and helped set up the MCC healthcare sector group. He has had two terms as President of the Aotearoa New Zealand Society of Paediatric Surgeons, is a former President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Paediatric Surgeons and former President of the Pacific Association of Pediatric Surgeons. He contributed to the RACS-administered Pacific Island Project, mostly to Vanuatu, for over a decade. He has written 10 textbooks on paediatric surgery and well over 300 peer reviewed papers. He is still in active clinical practice, involved in providing regular outreach clinics and surgery in the South Island and as far north as Hawkes Bay. His interest in history has expanded in recent years.