Gregory Robert Mundy was born on June 16, 1942 and passed away at his home in San Antonio on February 25, 2010 after an illness that began in late 2008. From the time of his entry to the field of bone research early in the 1970’s he contributed outstandingly and consistently to understanding of the cells of bone, their relationship to bone structure, and the translation of this research to clinical medicine. In the last few years of that career he was Director of the Vanderbilt Center in Bone Biology, the John A. Oates Chair in Translational Medicine and Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology, Orthopedics and Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. He had come to the USA after his clinical training in Australia with the idea of studying clinical pharmacology, so it is fitting that in the final years of his work he came to a Department of Clinical Pharmacology that is so noted for its role in forming that discipline.

Greg was born and received his early education on the rural outskirts of Melbourne, where the Mundy family had been orchardists for some generations, and it was expected that Greg would follow in the family tradition. In primary and junior high school, however, teachers noted his scholastic ability and keenness to learn, encouraging him to attend Trinity Grammar School in Melbourne, where he excelled both in study and sport, the latter as an exceptionally good cricket player. So in time he became the first Mundy to attend university, entering medicine at Melbourne University, gliding with ease through that course and incidentally performing outstandingly in cricket and baseball, gaining Full Blues for each. His ability as an attacking fast bowler is legendary, and the fast bowler attitude can easily be invoked in explaining Greg’s highly competitive approach in all aspects of his life.

When Greg married Helen Bath after his finals in November 1966 he decided to undertake residency training at the Hobart Hospital, Tasmania. This was against much advice that warned this was not a place for physician training, but he proved all of that wrong, with excellent clinical training, passing the College of Physicians’ examination at the first attempt , and research training with an MD thesis on multiple myeloma supervised by Albert Baikie. The Tasmanian experience provided Greg with a great basis for his future work in bone, where he provided notable insights into the mechanisms of bone disease in myeloma.

Career advice was not so readily available in those days, so Greg made his own plans, deciding to study clinical pharmacology, arranging a position at the University of Rochester, New York, USA, with the late Louis Lasagna, and he and Helen and their three young children left for there in 1972. Looking around for a suitable project, Greg came to the Raisz laboratory, where there was great excitement about local non-hormonal factors affecting bone resorption. One of these was produced by activated white cells and had been named osteoclast activating factor when it was identified at the National Institutes of Dental Research in 1972. At this point Greg realized that such a factor could be involved in the intense bone resorption that occurs in myeloma. He demonstrated that cultures of myeloma cells could produce such a factor, bringing his name before the field remarkably early in his career, and setting the scene for decades of first class research into the interactions of solid and haematological cancers with the skeleton.

When, in 1974, Raisz was asked to head a new Division of Endocrinology at the University of Connecticut, Greg moved with him, this time as an endocrinologist. Neither of them were trained for this, but within a few months Greg passed the Endocrinology Board Examinations, and not only helped establish the division, but also to build a highly effective program in bone research and metabolic bone disease. In 1980 Greg moved on to become Head of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. There he developed an outstanding program of laboratory and clinical research, trained large numbers of fellows and students, bringing them into faculty positions, and established a small biotechnology company which allowed him to expand his interests into all aspects of bone biology and disease.

His interest in cancer and the skeleton was lifelong, but his work explored bone cell biology in its broadest realms, and always he had in mind ways to apply the accumulated knowledge to understanding bone disease and managing it. When he began in 1980 in San Antonio, it was possible for the first time to grow cells out of bone and study how hormones influenced their function, what growth factors and cytokines are produced in bone and what cells they act on, and later, what transcriptional controls regulate bone cell function. The Mundy laboratory was a major player in all these areas, with his trainees, fellows and faculty prominent in presentations at meetings and in publications, with many of them going on to highly successful careers. Greg had a real interest in osteoporosis, its treatment and the development of new drugs. This was what drove him to form a biotechnology company seeking anabolic agents that act through stimulating the BMP promoter. The discovery of an effect through this pathway of “statin” drugs created much interest, and although the drugs in this class are liver-targeted, they are still being investigated and show promise for their application to healing of bone lesions when delivered by local application. Greg not only worked in the laboratory to develop new therapeutic approaches to bone, but gave many wonderful lectures on osteoporosis. He often introduced these with a picture of his aunt, who had spinal compression fractures. At a major lecture at the IBMS Meeting in Melbourne in 1995, she actually came and met us, and was a great inspiration, as Greg had been, to continue to work on greater awareness, better diagnosis, and more effective treatment.

Greg Mundy was a great competitor in the game and the academic business of science, a competitiveness coming in no small measure from his sporting history and upbringing, but he had a charm about him that could always defuse scenes of argument. He was great at the microphone, whether giving lectures or asking questions or answering them. It was easy to be his fierce competitor and within minutes resume his friendship. Collaborative work with him was always exciting and productive of ideas. Communication was instant—the advent of e-mail meant that messages sent to GRM were answered immediately, and that was exactly what was expected of you in return. He was always thorough in keeping himself informed of facts, but he was one of those individuals who could synthesise facts in a manageable, co-ordinated way without being a slave to them or overwhelming his audience with them. When this was combined with a great ability to cut through complexity, whether talking about his own research or surveying the field, he was a wonderful lecturer, with the engaging manner and sense of humour that made him so popular and very much in demand over the last 30 years at osteoporosis and other bone meetings internationally.

Greg was a much admired and loved mentor to the more than 150 physicians and scientists who were his students and trainees, in whom he inspired great loyalty, and in many cases they became lifelong family friends. The national and international societies supporting bone research all benefited from Greg’s leadership and wisdom. He was always a strong advocate for his views, and these views always represented better ways to foster and communicate good science. He was active in promoting opportunities for interaction and for strengthening the impact of the bone biology community. Among his many society executive positions he was Chair of the Research Grants Committee and a board member of the National Osteoporosis Foundation, he served for many years on editorial boards of several major journals and received many awards and distinctions, including the Fuller Albright and William F. Neuman Awards of the ASBMR.

In 2006 he came to establish a new centre in bone biology and translational research at Vanderbilt University, arriving late in his career at a real “home” of clinical pharmacology. It was a bold move for someone 63 years of age, but entirely consistent with his adventurous and innovative spirit, and undertaken at a time of great scientific productivity. He did this with remarkable success, recruiting first-class faculty and rapidly establishing productive collaborations within Vanderbilt that set the scene for real progress. The continued success of the Vanderbilt Center in Bone Biology will be part of an enduring monument to Greg Mundy’s great career. Despite the physical limitations imposed by his illness that began in late 2008, Greg was determined to live life to the full, with the courage and indomitable spirit that were typical of him. He continued worked throughout 2009, full of ideas and plans.

Despite working in the USA for nearly 40 years there was never any doubt about Greg’s origin—the accent and demeanour remained unmistakably Australian. For all said here about Greg’s achievements, he was above all a family man, with great devotion to his wife, Helen, who travelled with him much, understood his work and was his very valued critic, and great pride in his children. Greg’s family provided wonderful support at home during his final illness, which he accepted with great courage, grace and dignity. Just as he inspired so many people in the way he led his life, so was Greg inspirational in the manner of his passing.

Greg is survived by Helen, his wife of 43 years, his children, sons Gavin and Ben and daughter Jennifer, and his sister, Jan Tarrant.