Abstract
M. T. (Tom) Parker, one of the inspirational figures of post-war medical microbiology in addressing our increasing concerns about staphylococcal and other healthcare-associated infections, died on 25 February 2006, aged 94. His work on Staphylococcus aureus initially the type 80/81 epidemic strain that caused severe hospital infections in the 1950s and later the increasing antibiotic resistance amongst hospital isolates leading to the MRSA problems of the 21st century is as relevant to medical practice today as when he led the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) Cross-Infection Reference Laboratory through the 1960s and 1970s.