Peter Koopman is one of Australia’s leading developmental biologists. He is perhaps best known for his role in the discovery of the SRY maleness gene, resulting in 4 Nature papers and regarded as a major breakthrough in molecular genetics. He has continued to discover genes with important roles in development and disease, generating a stellar oeuvre of more than 200 research and conference papers cited more than 5000 times in the literature. Professor Koopman is an energetic spokesperson for Australian science, with outstanding contributions to editorship of international journals, organisation of international meetings, public engagement, teaching and peer review.