Dr G Howard Moody
Fellow of the RCSEd Faculty of Dental Surgery
Dr G Howard Moody sadly passed away at home on 25 March 2025 after a short illness surrounded by his wife, Alison and his loving family.
Howard was an esteemed Fellow of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. With a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, FRCPath, and a Diploma in Forensic Medicine (University of Glasgow), Howard was well-equipped for his stellar career.
Howard was born in Stafford in 1943 with Edinburgh becoming his educational, professional and family home. Howard was schooled at Melville College in Edinburgh and graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 1968 with a series of merits and a medal in Dental Radiology. Howard was later awarded an FRCPath and recognised by The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) towards the end of his career with a Surgical Fellowship (FRCS) in appreciation of his work across the College over several decades
Howard’s working life began in London and after a series of posts working through the academic ranks, Howard became a Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Oral Pathology, and an Honorary Fellow in Forensic Medicine, all at the University of Edinburgh, and an Honorary Forensic Odontologist for Lothian and Borders Police. Howard had a capacious knowledge and was an enthusiastic teacher for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Howard also participated in Forensic Pathology teaching for law students and Procurators Fiscal, a unique skill. Howard’s extra-mural interests in teaching ran throughout his career from university through to retirement. In what would now be called a gap-year, Howard’s interest in international work was catalysed by a Voluntary Service Overseas in Papua New Guinea. He returned for a 2-year secondment from his Lecturer role to be instrumental in setting up the new university dental school in Papua New Guinea and later returned as an external examiner. Closer to home, Howard also taught in Cork, Glasgow and Dundee with a short spell in Perth, Australia as the Dental School in Edinburgh closed. Howard was a prolific writer and publisher of scientific articles during his professional life being a fountain of knowledge for everyone he met.
Throughout his career, Howard had a long-standing involvement with The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) which moved up a gear in 1982 when he was appointed to the Board of Examiners for the LDS, FDS and subsequently the MGDS examinations. Teaching and examining for RCSEd were an integral part of Howard’s academic life as was his input to many of the key committees across the College. Howard was appointed Honorary Secretary to the Faculty of Dental Surgery (1994-99) and from then until the College’s quincentenary celebrations in 2005, Howard was a full and active member of the Quincentenary Action Review Team helping facilitate an ambitious programme of events succeeding in raising considerable funds for the new Surgeons Hall. Apart from raising funds for the College, Howard also worked to raise funds for Voluntary Service Overseas and other charitable projects. Over £500K was raised under Howard’s initiatives. Howard was Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (2004-2007) being a tremendous support to two successive Deans. Being enthusiastic in promoting the opportunity of College membership to many countries around the world, Howard worked with a wide team at RCSEd to take teaching and examinations to many countries including Hong Kong, Brunei, Bahrain, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India and Spain.
Howard examined for the MRCPath exam from 1997 until retirement. In his wider professional life as a Pathologist, Howard was involved in identification of human remains from the Lockerbie disaster in 1988, identified many victims for the Police and was also involved in identifying a key piece of evidence that helped convict the Worlds’ End murderer determining that the mark on one of the victim’s arms was a human bitemark. In total throughout his career, Howard was involved in a staggering 224 forensic cases.
During retirement, Howard and his wife, Alison continued their support for The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. As an active Senior Fellow, Howard knew every detail about the College and was a regular attender at both formal College events as well as less formal and social events. Howard was always keen to find out about the health of the Faculty of Dental Surgery and wider College, providing advice and encouragement to countless Deans and Dental Council members over the years as a dedicated Faculty historian and College enthusiast.
Fishing was Howard’s passion and although very humble, Howard was an expert, and his eyes always sparkled when asked about his fishing exploits. Howard’s warmth and humour was permanently on show throughout his life but nobody at the RCSEd Diploma Ceremony will ever forget Howard’s address to the Diplomates at the end of the ceremony where he was awarded his Surgical Fellowship (FRCS Ad Hominem). Fishing rod in hand, Howard demonstrated the optimal casting technique over the heads of the audience while providing the perfect mix of recognition and inspiration of the achievements of everyone in the audience.
Howard’s life was characterised by many acts of kindness, always willing to help anyone who asked for it, especially where dentistry or pathology were involved. Having dealt with illness himself, Howard volunteered his services in counselling others who had been given the same diagnosis. In more recent years, Howard became a champion for his local church food bank in Edinburgh, collecting 15,000 items over the years with he and Alison welcoming a Ukrainian family to their home for shelter during the recent conflict. Howard was unfailing in his encouragement and support throughout his career, always being keen to help everyone with his infectious smile. Howard was a real gentleman and will be remembered for being devoted to the service of others in all aspects of this life.