Anita Harding's clinical wisdom, enthusiasm, talent for research, and extraordinary personality epitomise all that we value most in a clinical scientist. Anita was an ambassador for British neurology, who patrolled the far corners of a still significant empire which had its roots at Queen Square where she worked and was happy. The evidence for her scientific achievement is in the writings; the style is in our memories. Each will endure. The rise in Anita's career - a readership and honorary consultancy in neurology at the National in 1987, a personal professorship in the University of London in 1990, and chairmanship of neurology at the Institute in 1995 - was meteoric. She served on the editorial boards of eleven journals and eighteen research panels, was a frequent member of the teaching faculty at international meetings, and held visiting professorships in the United Kingdom, Europe, North America and Australia. From amongst the Aladdin's cave of Anita's scientific achievements can be singled out her classifications of the peripheral neuropathies and hereditary ataxias, and genotype-phenotype correlations for each, the first identification of a mitochondrial DNA mutation in human disease, the spectrum of trinucleotide repeats in neurodegeneration, and the population genetics of disorders which show ethnic or geographic restriction. For her manifest achievements, and for our comfort in her absence, I commend Anita Harding to you as the Association's (joint) first medallist for distinguished contributions to neurology.

DAS Compston 11 April 1996