Colin Fraser Brockington was Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Manchester from 1952 to 1965. During that time he developed the Diploma in Community Nursing, the first pre-registration training course for nurses at a British University. This paper traces Brockington's education and career and explores his commitment to university-based nursing education which appears to have stemmed from his desire to enhance and broaden the role of the health visitor. It also considers the implications of the innovative course at Manchester and evaluates the way in which it influenced the gradual movement of nursing education into the university sector throughout the UK.