Professor Sidney Hilton, the man who almost single-handedly changed the fortunes of an ailing Physiology Department at the University of Birmingham making it one of the leading departments in the country, has died at his home in Llanelltyd, North Wales, aged 89.

It was in the mid 1960s that the young doctor, he was then 44, was invited to take the Birmingham Chair. By the time he retired in 1986, he was handling a budget of over £1m and had sent out a galaxy of stars into the medical profession throughout the country.

Not least of them was Professor Mike Spyer, currently chair of NHS London and Emeritus Sophia Jex-Blake, Professor of Physiology at University College London where he had previously been Vice Provost of Bio-Medicine. Professor Spyer described Hilton as having a wicked sense of fun and a vast appetite for perfection. 'Nothing left the department without being thoroughly scrutinised not only for content, but also for presentation. He was a man who wrote beautifully himself and expected the same of his students. Many of his Ph.D students were to go on to take up Chairs throughout the country and overseas," he said.

Born in London on March 17, 1921, the son of a north London GP, Hilton was educated at St Paul's, Jesus College, Cambridge and Guy's Hospital. He worked for a while as a chest physician before doing service in the RAF at the National Services Research Department. He subsequently returned to Cambridge to read for his Ph.D in Physiology before going to work for the National Institute of Medical Research in Mill Hill, North London.

It was in 1965 he was invited to take the Chair in Physiology at Birmingham and when he began his great mission in life - to teach others the skills he had learned and to administer a department that had been in decline for many years. It was here he was to meet Mary, the great love of his life, whom he married in 1978.

He travelled and published extensively in Physiological journals here and in the United States and was visiting Professor at the Universities of Warsaw, Gothenburg, the West Indies and Hong Kong. He was secretary of the Physiological Society from 1972-77 and remained an honorary member until his death.

He was the first European to address the Chinese Physiological Society in 1985 since the 1930s. And after his retirement in 1986 took up the post as Professor of Physiology in Hong Kong for just under a year.

After that he and Mary retired to the Welsh hills enjoying the rural lifestyle while making frequent forays both to Birmingham and to Jesus College, Cambridge. The couple were shining lights on the academic social scene.

Professor Hilton was predeceased by his younger brother, Professor Peter Hilton, mathematician and Bletchley Park code breaker, by less than three months.

Sidney Hilton, who died on January 28, is survived by his widow, Mary.

Obtiuary by Brenda Parry