1943-2025

Howard Moody, born in Stafford, taught generations of students at Edinburgh Dental School. He was a stalwart of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, and long-serving examiner and secretary of the British Society of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology. Howard was an exemplary professional and true gentleman.

Graduating from Edinburgh, Howard's professional life began at the Royal Dental Hospital. Returning to Edinburgh, Howard worked through the academic ranks to become Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Oral Pathology, Honorary Fellow in Forensic Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, and Honorary Forensic Odontologist for Lothian and Borders Police. Howard was an excellent teacher and highly regarded oral pathologist and forensic odontologist. Following a secondment whilst a lecturer, Howard returned to Papua New Guinea to help establish a dental school. He taught in Cork, Glasgow and Dundee, with a short spell in Perth, Australia following the closure of Edinburgh Dental School. In addition to numerous contributions to the oral pathology literature, Howard authored and contributed to books on forensic odontology, medicine, law and science.

Howard was Honorary Secretary to the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in the 1990s, and following a major contribution to arrangements for the College's quincentenary celebrations in 2005, Howard was elected Vice-Dean of the Faculty. As Honorary Secretary and Vice-Dean, Howard took postgraduate teaching and examinations to many countries including Hong Kong, Brunei, Bahrain, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India and Spain.

As a forensic odontologist, Howard was involved in a staggering 224 cases; notably, identifying evidence that helped convict the Worlds' End murderer and human remains from the Lockerbie bombing.

Fishing was Howard's passion. Famously, Howard's address to the diplomates, when he was honoured with a Surgical Fellowship, included a masterful demonstration of casting techniques to emphasis the value of practice in acquiring precise skills.

Howard's life was characterised by many acts of kindness. Having dealt with illness himself, he volunteered to counsel others. Howard became a champion for a church food bank in Edinburgh. Also, Howard and his beloved wife Alison welcomed a Ukrainian family to their home following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Howard leaves behind Alison, their three children and six grandchildren. Above everything, Howard will be remembered for his unassuming, selfless devotion to service to the profession, his students and society.

Grant McIntyre, Philip Taylor and Nairn Wilson