She also had her work published in about 265 publications, including 192 journal articles.
"But Dinny was not one to collect and count these outputs, in fact she eschewed such processes," Innes said in an obituary penned for the University of Auckland where she worked with Lennon.
"Far more important to her was making a difference to the health of children, which she did in spades."
Graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Otago University in 1972, Lennon also studied and worked abroad before serving as a specialist in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at Starship and Middlemore hospitals and consulting around the country.
"She was generous, her advice was sought after and it was always apt for the clinical care of children," Asher said.
Lennon also played a lead role in important health issues affecting the country and shaping national vaccine policy.
This included being a key part of the team tackling the meningococcal B epidemic through the 1990s to 2000s.
She worked tirelessly at a national and international level to develop a vaccine before setting up clinical trials that culminated in the mass MeNZB vaccination programme in 2004 and 2005, according to Asher.
These efforts greatly reduced deaths and disability from meningococcal disease.
In 1991 she also "drew attention to the huge inequities in child health with her lecture entitled 'Health in the ghetto'", Asher said.
"Subsequent research findings that crowding was the greatest risk factor for meningococcal disease led on to Housing NZ building larger, healthier state homes."
Professor Michael Baker from University of Otago worked with Lennon on a number of research projects, including one in which they presented their findings together just days before she died.
He called her an "unforgettable figure in paediatrics".
He said specialists in paediatrics and public health now all accepted that the biggest single factor in infectious diseases in children was whether a person is born in a wealthy or deprived environment.
"And Dinny contributed substantially to creating that awareness," Baker said.
He said Lennon could be staunch in her views but that proved one of her greatest assets because she persisted in pushing for change when others would give up.
"I'm almost expecting her to come around the corner again and be as strong minded as ever," he said.
"I know at least one of my other colleagues said the same thing, it just seems uninmaginable not to have her here being this absolutely staunch advocate for child health and doing the right thing."
Asher also praised her colleague as an inspiring lecturer, teacher and mentor, who not only helped young Kiwi doctors but colleagues in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu.
"Dinny was a feminist and set an example in her empowerment of women, and her appointment as one of the first women Professors of Paediatrics in New Zealand was fitting," Asher said.
"At the time of this great tragedy, we send deepest sympathy to her family - her husband John Ormiston, children William and Harry, and their families."
"Her family was the centre of her world, and our hearts go out to them," she said.
"Diana Lennon was a truly remarkable woman. She left an inestimable legacy. The world is a better place because of her life and we will miss her deeply."
