Michael CORBALLIS Obituary

Michael was much respected by my parents, Madeline and Bob McFarlane. I also met him in my adult life - I suspect we were too different in age to know each other earlier. He was an amazing man, a product of such interesting parents. I send my condolences.

Family man, mentor, teacher, supervisor, research colleague, intellectual giant, cartoonist, cricketer, extraordinary writer, cryptic crossword genius; a man whose shoulders we all stood on. And most of all dearest friend. What an amazing life he had and how lucky we all are to have been part of it.

Was saddened when I herd the news of Mike passing on.Kind and funny person. Enjoyed visiting the Corballis home when I lived in Auckland and very nice meals there.

Deeply saddened by the loss of a long-time friend and colleague. A giant in his field, but also a wonderful friend - thoughtful, kind, with lovely sense of humour. I will miss him deeply. My life will not be the same without him. My love and deepest sympathies to the family.

With deepest sadness and sympathy

To the Corballis family - May you take comfort in the comming days knowing that Professor Corballis would be remembered as an outstanding, kind man, great scientist, wonderful professor and educator and much, much more.
With sincere sympathy Buba

A brilliant lecturer and humanitarian. I was fortunate to be at Auckland University at the time he was in charge of the Psychology department where he certainly left his mark as an outstanding academic and a great communicator. He will be sadly missed.

Michael Corballis gave such entertaining and fascinating lectures, we were on the edges of our seats. His lectures were the ones I looked forward to the most.
He explained things so perfectly there was no way you could misunderstand.
I remember him explaining about the left-handed advantage, and he had a simple illustration of an antelope running in one direction, and a small group of antelopes running in the other, and we had to imagine as the cheetah which way we would run.
He went on to explain about the advantage of left-handed tennis players, and from then on I always expected Martina Navratilova to win all of her matches. Fortunately, she usually did.
Michael Corballis explained to us his evolutionary theory of language. He gave scientific evidence for gesture coming before speech. It is over fifteen years since I was in a lecture by Michael Corballis, but his lectures are all so clear in my mind.
There is a saying: education isn't about filling a pail, it is about lighting a fire.
Michael Corballis was a bright flame, and he knew exactly how to light the fire of curiosity and passion for learning in his students.
Juliet Jackson

A man of deep insight, scholarship, humility and compassion. It was a true pleasure to have known you and. Barbara. Your support will always be much valued. Farewell Prof.

Mike Thomas

Thank you Mike and Barbara for being my parents' friends since 1962. And thank you both for your huge generosity to me and my family over the years. And thank you Barbara for the mugs I have drunk endless cups of coffee from, that are still going strong. And thank you Mike for the books you've written that explain the brain in an easy-to-understand way, and also for the espresso coffee you made me and Hannah in your kitchen just a few months back.You will both be terribly missed.

Thank you for introducing science to me...and igniting that passion...for so many of us.