Personal recollections of Professor Michael Hull

© 2002 The British Fertility Society 1464-7273/2002 I was deeply honoured to chair a session at this meeting. I first met Mike in a stable! Not that we belonged to the horse riding fraternity, but in the early 1970s the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Mary’s Hospital, Praed Street, Paddington, was to be found (and still is) in the Mint Wing, formerly the stables of the Great Western Railways. Mike had just returned from 3 months in Israel working under Bruno Lunenfeld. This sojourn in the holy land literally transformed his life. This transition is seen clearly by inspection of his publications. His first eight publications from 1971 to 1975 were not related to reproductive medicine; however, after returning from Tel Aviv he joined Howard Jacobs in what was to become a quite unique team at St Mary’s. In 1976, Mike was the first author in what was a timely and important publication entitled ‘Female hypogonadism – therapy orientated diagnosis of secondary amenorrhoea’. From that time forward his publications reflected a wide interest in all aspects of human fertility. His 1979 paper with Phil Savage and Howard Jacobs on the investigation and treatment of amenorrhoea resulting in normal fertility remains a classic and is recommended reading to all interested in our subject. I still use the data when counselling couples and teaching medical students. The old and faded blue diazo slides bearing his name are a permanent reminder to me of his unique contribution to my education and to our speciality. By 1985 he had established a truly international reputation. This was further enhanced by the publication of ‘Population study of causes, treatment, and outcome of infertility’. I can do no better than summarize the main findings of the study and highlight the most important findings.