Keith Selwyn Harrison was born in Sydney on 28 December 1912 and died tragically on 6 March 1963, after an abdominal operation. He was the only child of Dr Selwyn Harrison, a neonatal paediatrician who had established a fine reputation at St Margaret’s Hospital. Keith inherited his quiet confident manner and his devotion to his patients.

Educated at Sydney Grammar School, he entered the faculty of medicine in 1930 and graduated with honours in 1936. After two years as an RMO at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, he went to England where with two other Prince Alfred men, Ruthven Blackburn and Maurice Joseph, he did the course run by Donald Hunter at The London Hospital, where he frequently distinguished himself by his wide medical knowledge and clinical acumen. The outbreak of World War II caused postponement of the MRCP examination, so Keith took a clinical post at Whipps Cross Hospital and later at the British Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith, where Sharpey-Schafer described him as one of the best house physicians he had known. He obtained his MRCP in September 1940 and at the end of that year returned to Australia, where he enlisted in the RAAF. In 1942 he found time to pass the MRACP examination and to obtain the DTM. Keith had a distinguished war service which included being the commanding officer of 26 MCS in the Admiralty Islands only three miles from the Japanese front line.

After demobilisation he entered general practice at Rockdale, where he remained for several years, quickly establishing himself as an outstanding practitioner. In 1946 he was appointed honorary assistant physician to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and in 1949 relinquished general practice for consulting medicine, at first in Macquarie Street and later at the RPAH Medical Centre. His chief interest was endocrinology and he was a founding member and the first secretary of the Endocrine Society of Australia.

Keith excelled as a clinical teacher, expressing his ideas clearly and succinctly, and developed a close personal relationship with his students. He was elected to Fellowship of the RACP in 1954. In the matter of medical education he was a leader, and shortly after the War organised a journal club amongst his colleagues which flourished until his death, meeting at first at our homes and later at the University Club. He was a voracious reader of medical journals and kept meticulous records. He did research work on thyrotropic hormones when he was the Marion Clare Reddall Scholar in the department of medicine in 1938 and published several articles subsequently on endocrinological subjects in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Keith had a happy family life, his wife Betty being a help-mate who shared his interests; they had two talented daughters. His untimely demise when on the threshold of what would have been a very distinguished career was a great loss to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and to Australian medicine. He is commemorated by the Harrison Reading Room in the Schlink Centre at RPA Hospital and in the hearts and minds of many friends.