Frank, an outstanding pupil of Mungret College Co. Limerick, graduated BDS in 1961 and MB BCh BAO (Gold Medal in Obstetrics) in 1965 from University College Dublin, soon followed by FDS(RCS). In 1968, he become Tutor in Pathology at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast – he claimed that the six autopsies he had performed at sea during his two years as Medical Officer on the SS Canberra had clinched the interview for him. He possessed the perfect academic credentials to become senior lecturer in dental pathology but more importantly he was generous with his time, his wisdom and his wit; he taught generations of dental students all the pathology they ever needed to know to be good clinicians. He referred to the dental students as 'my students' and regarded them as inexperienced junior 'colleagues-to-be' and took great delight in their achievements, not only in front of external examiners and the clinical arena but beyond. Promoted to a personal chair in 1973, he ensured the survival and success of the Belfast Dental School by establishing chairs in the six main dental specialities of the time. He served twice as Dean: 1979-1983 and 1984-1989.

Frank had a very good memory – essential for a histopathologist – but the breadth of his interests was enormous: sport, international affairs, philosophy, art, history, politics, religions; nothing seemed beyond his ken or comment. His social conscience led him to contribute actively to achieve stability and harmony in Northern Ireland; following the Anglo-Irish Agreement in 1985 he became a member of the Police Authority, working to improve the acceptance of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) across the community. This work was not without its difficulties – he described the attention that this brought him personally from paramilitary organisations as 'a little unsettling' – but he knew that there was no alternative. He retired in 1991 to his home town of Cahir, Co. Tipperary and devoted much of his new-found free time for the next 10 years to a drugs and alcohol rehabilitation project there.

Frank was a very private man. He rarely spoke of his family – and only so that he could change the subject – but he was devoted to them. His brother Michael, a general medical practitioner in Bristol, predeceased him by more than 10 years but Frank retained very close links with his nephew James and his nieces Catherine, Liz and Claire, and their children. On hearing of his passing, one of my classmates remarked: 'he was simply the best teacher I ever had.'

Never a truer word.