Ronald Bruce (Ron) Cross was born in Gympie, Queensland. He was the fourth of five children of Victor Arthur Cross and Lily Lucy Cross (nee West). His father was a World War I veteran who was troubled by a number of physical and emotional injuries from his service on the Western Front. He supplemented his disability pension with part time work as a mail delivery contractor and banana farmer, in which roles he was helped by his wife and young children.

Ron’s primary and secondary schooling was in Gympie. He achieved a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Queensland. He interrupted his studies after third year to complete a BSc in physiology. Most of his undergraduate clinical training was at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane. He completed his first year residency year at Royal Brisbane Hospital in 1955. The terms of his scholarship required him to be posted to a rural hospital after his first year of residency, and he took up the post of Medical Superintendent (and sole doctor) in the small western Queensland town of Winton in 1956. He had married Kathleen Moira (Moira) Patey in his final year of medicine, having met her during his BSc year whilst she was completing her MSc in zoology.

Although Ron greatly enjoyed the challenges of working as a solo medical practitioner, he had also developed a great interest in physiology. He was released from his employment with the Queensland government to take up a position as Wilkie Research Fellow in Medicine and Physiology at the University of Edinburgh in 1957. He completed his PhD on the renal effects of vasopressin in 1959. He then returned to the Department of Physiology at the University of Queensland where he was remained until 1990, as Senior Lecturer in Physiology from 1959 to 1965, and Reader in Clinical Physiology from 1965 to 1990. During those years he continued his research in renal physiology and hypertension, mentoring many young scientists and physician researchers.

Ron’s major passion over these decades was teaching, particularly teaching medical students. Generations of Queensland medical students remember his animated demonstrations of the principles of human physiology, always illustrated with practical examples. His teaching also took him into the hospital environment, where his seminars in pathophysiology spanned the full spectrum from history taking and diagnostic formulation to basic cellular function. He was always sympathetic to the plight of students who were in difficulty during their course, particularly when the problems stemmed from illness, family disruption, or other disadvantage. He felt that teaching was just as important as research within the university, and that it was often neglected and under-valued. Amongst his many awards and accolades, he was perhaps proudest of being nominated patron and life member of the University of Queensland Medical Society, which represents medical students.

In the latter part of his career he became increasingly convinced that Australia was not training enough doctors, and that rural and provincial areas would bear the brunt of medical staff shortages. He strongly championed increasing medical school intakes, and after leaving the University of Queensland in 1990, took up a position as Advisor on Medical Education to Griffith University with the aim of developing a second medical school for south-east Queensland. The steady development of the necessary infrastructure over the next decade eventually led to his dream being achieved, though many years later than he felt it should have been.

Some of the highlights of his career, and those which re-energised his enthusiasm for research, occurred during his sabbaticals every seven years. From a personal and professional viewpoint the favourites were perhaps his 12 month periods as Visiting Professor of Physiology at Harvard Medical School in 1973, and Visiting Professor of Physiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Centre in 1981, where he worked in close conjunction with the legendary physiologists Cliff Barger and Arthur Guyton respectively. He always took his family with him on sabbatical, providing his children with a rare opportunity to live and attend school in other countries and to see much of the world at a young age.

Throughout his university career he maintained an interest in clinical medicine, although he never practiced as a specialist physician. He acted as a primary medical practitioner for many university staff. After his retirement from Griffith University in 1994, he decided to resume work as a general practitioner. He devoted considerable enthusiasm in re-training for this task, including achieving Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners in 1999, at the age of 70. He continued an active interest in medical teaching and research, including being a member of the research committee of The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation for nearly two decades.

His wife, Moira, died in 1995 after a long battle with cardiac disease. Ron had helped resuscitate her from a cardiac arrest which occurred whilst she was running a physiology practical class for medical students in 1970, at the age of 40. She lived long enough to receive one of the earliest implantable cardiac defibrillators, after surviving her third 'out of hospital' cardiac arrest. The uncertainty of living with the risk of her imminent death never inhibited Ron and Moira from living an active life, travelling the world, and tirelessly supporting their three children. Their eldest child, David, is a cardiologist. Jennifer, their second child, also studied medicine and is now a general practitioner. Fiona, the youngest, is an architect.