Conjoint Professor Paul Walker said the recognition for his service to paediatric medicine and professional organisations in Newcastle was an "unexpected honour".
"It came completely out of the blue, and I think it should be shared with the many medical, nursing and allied health colleagues who - all together - made airway reconstruction and cochlear implantation in the Hunter a reality," he said.
"I am also grateful for colleagues in philosophy, who taught me a new way to look at life and look at different ways to help families make decisions about what is best for their children."
One of the proudest achievements from a distinguished career was being able to help children in the Hunter Region who otherwise would have had to travel to Sydney for cochlear implantation or airway reconstruction.
"I was the first exclusively paediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon here," Professor Walker said.
"When cochlear implantation became bigger, most children from the Hunter would have to go to Sydney.
"So we started a program here in the Hunter.
"But I didn't do it alone. Because I had anaesthetic colleagues, intensive care colleagues, nursing and allied health, we could put together comprehensive programs.
"It could never have been a one-man show."
