Singaporean President, Physician. Known as Singapore's "father of modern obstetrics and gynaecology," he served as the 2nd President of Singapore from 1971 to 1981. He also pioneered a gynaecological procedure that involves creating an artificial vagina for those born without one. This procedure was hence known internationally as the "Sheares Procedure." Born in the Straits Settlements to an Eurasian family with an English lineage, he was the second of six children. He attended St. Andrew's School before transferring in 1922 to study at the Raffles Institution. In 1923, he was accepted into the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore and was conferred the Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery degree in 1929. Upon graduation, he worked as an obstetrician in the Kandang Kerbau Hospital and a professor at the University of Malaya. In 1940, he was awarded the Queen's Fellowship, a two-year postgraduate scholarship in Britain, but was postponed as a result of World War II. During the Japanese Occupation from 1942 to 1945, he was head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Kandang Kerbau Hospital. After the war ended, he was appointed as an acting professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the hospital, which he held on until he went for his postgraduate studies in 1947. He was recalled back to Singapore to act as professor the following year. He retired in 1960 and went into private practice. On December 30, 1970, he was elected president of Singapore by the Parliament after the death of Yusof Ishak, and was sworn in on January 2, the following year. He remained active in the medical field. After being found to have lung tumors in 1980, he slipped into a coma and died four days later on May 12, 1981.