Robert Beaglehole trained in medicine, cardiology, epidemiology and public health in New Zealand, England and the USA before becoming a public health physician. He was Professor of Community Health at the University of Auckland, New Zealand (1988-1999). In 2000 he joined the staff of the World Health Organization and was engaged in a variety of public health roles. Between 2004 and 2007 he directed the Department of Chronic Disease and Health Promotion. In 2007 he returned to New Zealand. He is now an independent global public health practitioner with a focus on the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in New Zealand, the Pacific and globally. He founded ASH in 1982 and now chairs the organisation which actively supports the Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Goal. He is Professor Emeritus of the University of Auckland and chairs the Lancet NCD Action Group.