Professor William Bannister was first and foremost a most courteous and humble gentleman who provided the inspiration to a whole generation of doctors and academics to achieve the highest realms possible.

Known to all of who knew him as Willie, he had the time for all even though he was an intellectual giant that had a passion for getting to grips with the molecular mechanisms that provide for healthy cell function.

Willie, after completing his postgraduate studies in Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, in which he was offered further opportunities to stay, decided to return to Malta in the early 60s following which he took on the reigns of the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry and headed it till the turn of the century when he retired.

In 2000, the Council of the University of Malta honoured him with the appointment of professor emeritus and senior research fellow and thus he continued to be active in the field of computational biology and was sought after as ever for his expertise as a reviewer for a number of renowned international science journals.

As it has always been with Willie, his foray into computational biology was one in which he was self-taught in terms of computational aspects. An occasion among one of the many that springs to mind is asking him for his considered opinion on some aspect of methodology, he pulled out reams of printed paper on which a computer programme had been written, pointing out that on some line 1000 or so the wrong variable had been inserted and just needed some adjustment for it in order to run appropriately. Willie being unassumingly utterly helpful as Willie has always done. 

During the said period of his tenure as head of the Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, he set the foundations that enabled the development of the Department to what it stands today, that of a firm footing in the areas of molecular biology and genetics.

During the early years, he further enhanced the teaching of biochemistry by firmly embedding it into the medical curriculum and attracting external staff to help him to do so. In addition, he was also probably the first one to  attract external funds, no other than from the Wellcome Trust, to further bolster those provided by the University to set up modern and equipped laboratories.

Thus, as a result, the teaching of physiology and biochemistry thrived under his leadership as now both young medical students and the first postgraduate students were provided with the most up to date findings and had the opportunity to see these in action in the laboratory.

Willie’s research efforts were that of top notch, so much so, his foundation speech in 1969, “How much Research” stirred the authorities into action, in that little or no research had been done in this field in Malta.

Once again, he brought to this fore on the occasion of the award of an honoris causa degree in doctor of science by the University of Malta for his sterling contribution to medical education and research, in 2014.

In his oration for the said occasion he again emphasised the key factor that makes for a University of substance, that of high-powered teaching and research, as one without the other is an impossibility not worth thinking about. Willie was consummate as ever and to the point but as usual, humble enough to state, referring to Wittgenstein, that education policy was not his expertise, but the fine balance between teaching and research needs to be maintained even in a climate of increasing student numbers and limited opportunities for researchers.

Willie was a wonderful kind man, an intellectual stalwart, yet he had the time and patience for all of us who sought his wise counsel. He will be sorely missed. 

Godfrey Laferla is Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, and Richard Muscat, is head, Department of Physiology and Biochemistry.