Kelsey Atangamuerimo Harrison is an emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology and former vice-chancellor of University of Port Harcourt, who contributed immensely to studies of maternal health, especially during pregnancy. As a researcher at the University of Ibadan, he mapped out the effects of severe anaemia on the mother and her baby, and established the safety of treating gross anaemia by packed cell transfusion combined with rapidly acting diuretic. He was also part of a group that discovered the dangerous threat posed by sickle cell disease to maternal and fetal lives among Africans. In Zaria, the results of the work of a team he led, became the most powerful boost to international advocacy for better maternal and perinatal health in developing countries. Now retired, his life is summed up thus - an obstetrician and gynaecologist, a teacher and trainer, medical academic, university administrator, a sort of social activist, and a cricket and music fan. Life Professor Kelsey Atangamuerimo Harrison was born in Abonnema, Rivers State, on 9 January 1933. He received his primary school education locally at Bishop Crowther Memorial School. After an outstanding secondary school career at Government College Umuahia, he trained at University College Ibadan and at University College Hospital London, graduating MB BS with honours and distinction in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 1958. Towards specializing in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, he received his postgraduate research and clinical training in Nigeria and United Kingdom (UK), most notably under John Lawson in Ibadan, W.C.W Nixon in London, and F. E. Hytten in various U K Medical Research Council units. He became a member in 1964, and a fellow in 1973, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London. Already a foundation member of the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria in 1965, he was professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, first in Ibadan in 1972, then in Zaria from 1972 to 1981, and lastly in Port Harcourt, 1981–1998, where he became that university's Vice-Chancellor from 1989–1992, having earlier been the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. He retired from the Nigerian university system in 1998, and was appointed in July 1999, an emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Port Harcourt. He is a recognised authority on anaemia, sickle cell disease and malaria in pregnancy. His researches on anaemia at Ibadan University led to the development of the solution to