Sir Charles Ernest Hercus (13 June 1888 – 26 March 1971) was a New Zealand doctor and professor of public health. He served as dean of the

University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine The Dunedin School of Medicine is the name of the School of Medicine that is based on the Dunedin campus of the University of Otago in New Zealand. Students who gain entry after the competitive Health Sciences First Year program or who gain g ...

from 1937 to 1958.

Biography

Hercus was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

on 13 June 1888. He was in the first class at the Otago Dental School and completed his BDS in 1911, before also completing

MB ChB A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

degrees in 1914, MD in 1921, and DPH in 1922. He served in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, rising to rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Field Ambulance from January 1917. Hercus married Isabella Rea Jones at Johnsonville on 6 February 1923, and the couple went on to have four children. Hercus was the professor of public health and bacteriology at the University of Otago from 1922 and 1955, and professor of preventive and social medicine between 1955 and 1958. He served as sub-dean of the Otago Medical School between 1924 and 1936, and dean of the Otago Medical School from 1937 to 1958. Hercus died in Dunedin on 26 March 1971.

Honours and awards

In recognition of his military service during World War I, Hercus was appointed a

Companion of the Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful command and leadership during active operations, typicall ...

in the 1918 King's Birthday Honours, and an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the 1919 King's Birthday Honours. He was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

in the

1947 New Year Honours The 1947 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth Realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 31 December 1946.Operational ...

. In 1962, he was conferred an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degree by the University of Otago. Hercus was a

Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, abbreviated as the post-nominal initials FRACP, is a recognition of the completion of the prescribed postgraduate specialist training programme in internal adult or internal paediatric medicin ...

, the

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is the leading advocate for surgical standards, professionalism and surgical education in Australia and New Zealand. Known by its common acronym RACS, it is a not-for-profit organisation, supp ...

, the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

and the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

Honorific eponym

The Hercus Building, part of the University of Otago Dunedin School of Medicine, on the corner of Great King and Hanover Streets, is named for Hercus. The

Health Research Council of New Zealand The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) is a Crown agency of the New Zealand Government. It is responsible for managing the government's investment in health research for the public good. The HRC was established under the Health Rese ...

offers an annual Sir Charles Hercus Health Research Fellowship, worth up to

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

600,000 "for emerging scientists who have demonstrated outstanding potential to develop into highly skilled researchers able to initiate new avenues of investigation", in his honour. The

Royal Society Te Apārangi The Royal Society Te Apārangi (in full, Royal Society of New Zealand) is a not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities. These fundings (i.e., Marsden grants and research fe ...

awards the Hercus Medal for excellence in molecular and cellular sciences, biomedical science or clinical science and public health every two years.

References

1888 births 1971 deaths New Zealand public health doctors Medical doctors from Dunedin Academic staff of the University of Otago New Zealand Knights Bachelor New Zealand Companions of the Distinguished Service Order New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand military personnel of World War I Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh {{NewZealand-med-bio-stub