James McCulloch was born at Urana, a small Riverina town in NSW, on 1 May 1901 and died in Sydney on 26 June 1984. The eldest of six children, after his early education in the country at home by his mother, he went initially to Albury High School and then to Fort Street where he matriculated like so many other distinguished members of the medical and legal professions. He graduated MB ChM from Sydney University in 1924 and after a residency went to England where he was one of the first Australians to receive postgraduate anaesthetic training, and making the acquaintance of Dr Macintosh with whom he became a lifelong friend. Dr Robert Macintosh later became the first professor of anaesthetics at the University of Oxford. In 1934 he returned to Australia and was appointed to the honorary staffs of St Vincent's and the Royal North Shore Hopsitals as an anaesthetist, while earning his living as a general practitioner.

At the outbreak of World War II he enlisted and served with great credit in the Middle East in the 2nd/1st Australian General Hospital and in New Guinea and Borneo with the 2nd/5th Australian General Hospital, gaining enormous experience in resuscitation and anaesthesia under sometimes very difficult conditions. He was mentioned in dispatches. In 1944 he succeeded in obtaining the membership of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, one of the first anaesthetists to so qualify, and in 1950 he obtained the Diploma of Anaesthesia of Sydney University. He was a foundation fellow of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1952 and was elected to the fellowship of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1954. Life membership of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists followed in 1972 with an honorary fellowship of the Australasian Faculty in 1973. In 1980 he was elected to their Court of Honour.

In the post war years, with the many problems arising from a large number of doctors seeking training and the explosion in the requirements for skilled anaesthetic services, Dr McCulloch had a major role in the administration of the affairs of the Society of Anaesthetists and the Faculty. He became involved with the Society immediately after demobilisation, being initially its secretary-treasurer and later its president between 1954 and 1955. He was a member of the board and an examiner of the Australasian Faculty and serves as vice dean and dean from 1956 to 1964. As a measure of the man, on the last day of his profesional practice, he wrote on a sheet requesting biographical details of Fellows for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, 'No honours, no distinctions - avid gardener'.

James was an ebullient character, witty without malice, a superb host and a very loyal friend. As one who received his professional skills both as a patient and as a young surgeon, the writer can attest to his exceptional ability. His uncomplaining patience, humour and encouragement played a very significant role in the maturation of many aspiring young men and women not only in anaesthesia but also in surgery and medicine, and particularly in the successful induction and operation of the cardiothoracic surgical unit at the Royal North Shore Hospital where he made with Ian Monk a formidable combination. The late Douglas Joseph, foundation professor of anaesthesiology at the University of Sydney, has paid tribute to Dr McCulloch and there would be little doubt that his example and tutelage when Dr Joseph was a trainee registrar at the Royal North Shore Hospital did play a large part in Dr Joseph's further very distinguished career.

James McCulloch had the indefinable quality of leadership which provided a spirit of cohesion among the very disparate, not to say difficult, personalities of his anaesthetic colleagues. He demonstrated his depth of character when on a matter of principle concerning the care of patients and the rather grey area of delineation of responsibilities, and despite a longstanding friendship and association with the very distinguished surgeon involved, he stood fast and sacrificed the greater part of his professional income. Until his final and protracted illness he maintained a youthful spirit of inquiry and wit and a tolerance of the quirks and peculiarities of his changing environment. His influence on the practice of anaesthesiology was considerable and will extend well beyond his lifetime.