The SHAPE Community was saddened by the recent passing of Past President and Life Member of SHAPE, Dr David Briggs AM.
 

A close colleague and former Past President of SHAPE, Professor Godfrey Isouard has provided the following tribute on David.

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My colleague Professor David Stewart Briggs AM was a distinguished Past President of SHAPE (2012-2016). David had an extensive senior management and governance career which spanned 58 years in the public health and higher education sectors. This included area health services, rural and community health, primary health care and as a distinguished academic and researcher. Throughout his career, David contributed significantly to the professions namely SHAPE and the Australasian College of Health Services Management (ACHSM).
 

David’s leadership was well-regarded being not only a Life Member and Past National President of SHAPE but also a Fellow, Life Member and Past National President of the ACHSM. He also became the Founding Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Health Service Executives.
 

David was recognised by his peers by being honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for his contribution to health management and education. In 2004 David received the national ACHSM Gold Medal Award for his extensive contributions to the College and to health services generally.
 

David was formerly the Head of the Health Management Program at the University of New England (UNE) and taught a range of course units both domestically and overseas at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and in Thailand. His scholarly work included research and publications with a special interest in health reform, health systems management and the potential for distributed networks of practice in the delivery of primary health care. David was outstanding as the Editor in Chief, Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, and later held the role of Honorary Editor in Chief, ASEAN Journal of Public Health, and Development.
 

On retirement, David maintained Adjunct Professorial appointments at UNE, Mahidol University, and Naresuan University in Thailand. He was committed to the international promotion of excellence in health services management in the Asia Pacific region, and actively involved in Thailand and Hong Kong.
 

David was passionate about rural and remote health. He championed the need for better access to services, research related to the health needs and experiences of people in rural and remote areas. David facilitated many positive collaborations that resulted in improved health services. He achieved important outcomes through several leadership roles within the New England Region, including that of Deputy Chair and Director HNECC Primary Health Network.
 

David’s PhD research was a significant body of work titled ‘the lived experience of health service managers, their perceptions of the health system and the health management role’. This was a wonderful balance of scholarly work grounded in the experience of health organisations and their leadership and management. It provided very useful practice insights for the discipline. Significantly as well, the outcome of that research was adopted nationally and has become known as the SHAPE Declaration.  

David Briggs was my friend, colleague and mentor. He was an inspiring leader, formidable, resolute, and often bloody minded. David was fiercely loyal and spoke his mind often regardless of the consequences. He had deep personal values of honesty and integrity with incredible intellectual fortitude. Although often busy doing his work, David had time for people and always available to give a helping hand. 

David was loved and admired by his many SHAPE colleagues, many of whom benefited from his mentorship, advice and perspectives. As an organisation, SHAPE clearly advanced due to David’s leadership, vision and understanding.
 

Godfrey Isouard, Life Member and Past President SHAPE