Emeritus Prof title zenith of career - Gerrard

David Gerrard.
David Gerrard.
David Gerrard says being awarded the title Emeritus Professor is the highlight of his career in sport and exercise medicine.

Prof Gerrard (71) will be farewelled by the University of Otago's department of medicine on Wednesday, after more than four decades work and study at the university.

The emeritus title was bestowed this month by the university council, and he was notified in a letter last week.

"For me it's probably the greatest academic honour that you could receive from our university, which is the oldest in New Zealand.

"I need not labour that point. It's a very prestigious appointment, and I feel very proud and humbled by it.‘‘It's the zenith of my academic career, and one that I never really expected,'' Prof Gerrard said.

It meant Prof Gerrard could use the title for life.

In a couple of months, Prof Gerrard and his wife Barbara plan to move north of Auckland to be closer to family.

Prof Gerrard has been a match doctor for Otago and the Highlanders for 35 years, and the weekend's Highlanders v Sharks game was his last in that role.

Prof Gerrard, who won a gold medal in the pool in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, was appointed Chef de Mission at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He was on the International Swimming Federation's sports medicine committee for almost 30 years, and continues to serve as chairman of the World Anti Doping Agency's therapeutic use exemption committee.

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