Sir Graham (84) was a pioneer in helping premature babies survive by giving hormone injections to accelerate the growth of lungs. After he graduated from Otago University medical school in 1948 he undertook a Diploma in Obstetrics at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London. In the 1960's he made a break-through discovery that babies, not their mothers, determine the time of their birth and he, with a fellow British doctor, also discovered that babies breathe in the womb. These findings transformed the practice of neonatology and the hormone treatment he introduced has dramatically improved survival rates of prem babies on an international scale. In 1971 he became a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecological Endocrinology. He also taught at Auckland University. He received the Polar Medal for Antarctic research and the Hector Medal in for biomedical research in 1980, and was also an honorary fellow of British, American and New Zealand Colleges of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He was awarded a CBE in 1985 and became a knight in 1991. Auckland University's Liggins Instutue is named after him.