Professor Jules Kieser died suddenly and unexpectedly on 10 June 2014.
Jules was a dynamic academic who made outstanding contributions to teaching and research at the University of Otago and to forensic services in New Zealand and abroad.
He established and ran the popular forensic biology summer school paper FORB201. Several students were inspired by this course to pursue postgraduate forensic biology research under Jules' supervision.
Jules was the inaugural Director of the Sir John Walsh Research Institute, which encompasses all research undertaken within the Faculty of Dentistry. He moulded the Institute into the successful research centre that it is today, the mission of which is to advance research and increase knowledge for the improvement of oral health in New Zealand. He had many research interests including oral biomechanics, anatomy, paleoanthropology and paleopathology. He was instrumental in the establishment of the annual Biomouth conference.
Jules was a valuable member of the Dunedin forensic odontology team. In addition to assisting local police with forensic investigations he received commendations for his contribution to disaster victim identification after the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 and the Christchurch earthquake in 2011.
Jules will be remembered by many for his humour, his wry smile, his passion for research and his genuine concern for his colleagues and students.