Professor Jock Findlay AO praised his management style,quoting his colleague Associate Professor David Robertson.

“Henry’s leadership brought out the best in all of us by providing a research environment which was collegiate,cordial and respectful. I do not remember any instance of note where discord was observed over a 30-year period,” he said.

Professor Burger’s successor at Monash Health,Professor Peter Fuller,called him an anomaly in the medical establishment of the 1970s:a gentle man in the literal sense,at a time when medical leadership could be confrontational.

“Such was his stature beyond endocrinology that physicians from many specialties chose to work at Prince Henry’s Hospital because Henry Burger worked there,” he said.

In a career that produced more than 600 research papers,a major highlight was as co-leader of the research group that successfully isolated the glycoprotein hormone inhibin. He also identified its role in the diagnosis and monitoring of ovarian malignancy.

Another Burger initiative,with the future governor of Victoria Professor David de Kretser AC,was the Reproductive Medicine Clinic (which started in 1977) where endocrinologists consulted side by side with gynaecologists,urologists and social workers – a multidisciplinary clinic before such a term was invented,operating on Tuesday evenings,so couples could attend together.

Janet Michelmore AO,women’s health advocate and daughter of Dr Hailes,called him quietly dignified,with an enormous intellect.

“Patients adored him for his calm,attentive approach. His fellow clinicians would wait in the corridors just to pick his brains. He was always responsive to what women wanted to know,offering clear,evidence-based explanations about what was safe and effective in managing their health,” she said.

Esteemed American endocrinologist Professor Richard J Santen sent a message calling him a consummate teacher. “I learned this when he spent 90 minutes trying to teach me all about Australian football. I found this more complicated than the entire study of endocrinology.”

A deep thinker and a man with a keen social conscience,Professor Burger wrestled with aspects of his Catholic faith as he worked in women’s health throughout a time of great change.

Among many other things,he credited his wife Jenny for encouraging him to question the church’s teachings,and he spent many years as part of a discussion group with a lawyer,a teacher,a philosopher,two psychologists,two historians and three doctors,chewing over moral,ethical and spiritual issues of the day.

Two of his five children – both doctors – spoke about him in loving terms. Dr Martine Burger said:“Humility,humanity and humour shone through his many roles – researcher,teacher,mentor,leader,father and friend to many.”

Dr Anna Hughes,told of her father’s time in intensive care in 2023,recovering from COVID-related multi-organ failure,when he kept himself occupied by naming towns and suburbs in Australia in alphabetical order,but was intensely frustrated at failing to come up with any that started with Z.

“I am yet to meet another 90-year-old in ICU keenly preserving their cognitive function in that way,” Dr Hughes said.

Professor John Funder shared his professional and personal respect:“Henry’s contributions to endocrinology and patient welfare across a wide range of areas are breathtaking. He was my mentor,my stabiliser,I loved him,and my love goes out to Jenny and the family. May he rest in peace.”

Hudson Institute is now working to create a Henry G Burger chair of clinical and experimental endocrinology,to recognise his importance and his contribution to medical research and reproductive health.

Over more than an hour,before almost 150 people,Henry Burger the brilliant doctor and academic was lauded by many of those who had the pleasure of working with him,including a fond remembrance of his “inimitable bass baritone oratorial style – smooth,unhurried,perfectly structured and never faltering”.

But perhaps it was IVF pioneer Professor Gab Kovacs who best encapsulated the person:“Henry Burger was a man who no one ever said anything bad about.”

Rob Clancy is communications and media manager at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research,Melbourne.