David Ellwood was born in London in 1955 and studied at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities between 1973 and 1981 where he completed his primary medical degrees and also graduated as Doctor of Philosophy, submitting a thesis entiled ‘The uterine cervix in pregnancy and at parturition’. After moving to Australia in 1984 he finished specialist training in obstetrics & gynaecology and then a subspeciality qualification in maternal-fetal medicine. He held senior academic appointments at the University of Sydney and was appointed to the Chair of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at ANU with the opening of the medical school in 2004. He is the Head of the School of Clinical Medicine based at The Canberra Hospital and the Deputy Dean of the medical school, and chairs the medical program’s Curriculum Committee. He has held numerous leadership positions in various professional associations including President of the Perinatal Society of Australia & New Zealand (PSANZ) from 2004 to 2006, President of Women’s Hospitals Australasia (WHA) from 2007 to 2010, and President of the Australian & New Zealand Stillbirth Alliance from 2008 to 2010. He is the President-elect of the Federation of Asia-Oceania Perinatal Societies (FAOPS) and of the Internataional Stillbirth Alliance. From 2006 to 2010 he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Obsterics & Gynaecology. Most recently he has taken up the position as Chair of the Australian Medical Council’s (AMC) Medical School’s Accreditation Committee and is also one of the Directors of the AMC. in 2008 he was a finalist (ACT) in the Australian of the Year awards and in 2010 was awarded the Medal of Distinction by Women’s Hospital’s Australasia for services to Women’s Health. His partner, Anne Sneddon is also an obstetricina and gyynaecologist and between them they have an extraordinary family of nine children.