Ralph Hudson Johnson FRSE (3 December 1933 – 1 July 1993) was a 20th-century British neurologist.

Ralph Hudson Johnson
Born(1933-12-03)3 December 1933
Sunderland, England
Died1 July 1993(1993-07-01) (aged 59)
Oxford, England
Spouse
Gillian Keith
(m. 1970)
Children2
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Cambridge
University of Oxford
Academic work
DisciplineNeurology
InstitutionsRadcliffe Infirmary
Wellington Clinical School of Medicine
Wadham College, Oxford

Early life and education

edit

He was born on 3 December 1933 in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear[1] the son of Sydney Reynald Edward Johnson, an electrical engineer, and his wife, Phyllis. He attended Lawrence Sheriff School and then won a scholarship to Rugby School. He won a double scholarship and obtained multiple degrees at both University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.[2]

Career

edit

Johnson completed his training at UCL Medical School in London, in 1958. In 1960, he moved to the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, where he conducted research on artificial respiration for poliomyelitis and rehabilitation of paraplegics, winning awards from the Polio Research Fund, British Medical Association and the Schorstein Medical Research Fellowship of Oxford University.[3]

He was awarded multiple doctorates and honorary doctorates throughout his career. In 1976 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were John A Simpson, Robert Martin Stuart Smellie, Henry G Morgan, and Reginald Passmore.[4]

In 1977, he went to the newly-created Wellington Clinical School of Medicine in New Zealand as its first dean. Mixing research with organisational skills, he created a new Diploma in Community Health in 1981, and a department of post-basic nursing studies in collaboration with the Victoria University of Wellington.[2] In 1987 he returned to Britain, taking up a Fellowship at Wadham College, Oxford.[citation needed]

Death

edit

A keen apiarist, he died of anaphylactic shock after having been stung by a swarm of his own bees in his garden in Oxford on 1 July 1993.[5][6]

Publications

edit
  • Disorders of the Automatic Nervous System (1974) with J M K Spalding
  • Multiple Sclerosis in Scotland (1978)
  • Neurocardiology (1985) with Lambie and Spalding

Family

edit

In 1970, he married Gillian S Keith, a social worker. They had two children, Rachel and Mark.[1][2]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Weatherall, D.J. (9 July 1993). "Obituary: Ralph Johnson". The Independent. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Ralph Hudson Johnson | RCP Museum". history.rcplondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  3. ^ "RALPH HUDSON JOHNSON Biography" (PDF). Rse.org.uk. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  4. ^ Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X.
  5. ^ "Dr. Ralph Hudson Johnson, 59, director of..." Baltimore Sun. 6 July 1993. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  6. ^ "DEATHS: R. H. Johnson". Washington Post. 6 July 1993. Retrieved 16 January 2024.