Sir Desmond Arthur Pond (2 September 1919 – 29 June 1986) was a British

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

. He was born the son of electrical engineer Thomas Pond in

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and educated at the

John Lyon School John Lyon School (prior to 1965 The Lower School of John Lyon) is an academically selective private co-educational day school for pupils aged 3 to 18 in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1876, by the Gove ...

in Harrow and at

St Olave's Grammar School St. Olave's Grammar School (formally St. Olave's and St. Saviour's Church of England Grammar School) ( or ) is a grammar school, selective secondary school for boys in Orpington, Greater London, England. Founded by royal charter in 1571, the sch ...

Orpington Orpington is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is 13.4 miles (21.6 km) south east of Charing Cross. On the south-eastern edge of the Greater London Built-up Area, it is south of St Mary Cray, sou ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He graduated from

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

in both Natural and Moral Sciences and trained in Medicine at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

and at

Duke University School of Medicine The Duke University School of Medicine, commonly known as Duke Med, is the medical school of Duke University. It was established in 1925 by James B. Duke. The School of Medicine, along with the Duke University School of Nursing, Duke Universi ...

, North Carolina. His primary interest was in psychiatry and from 1948 to 1952 he was Senior Lecturer in the Department of Neurophysiology at

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the I ...

. From 1952 to 1966 he was consultant psychiatrist at Maudsley and University College Hospitals. In 1966 he was appointed the first Professor of Psychiatry at the

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and London Borough of Tow ...

. He was a founder member of the Institute of Religion and Medicine in 1964. His efforts helped to establish the role of psychiatry in general practice and his contributions were recognised by the award of honorary fellowship of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Pond served on the Neurosciences Board of the Medical Research Council from 1968 to 1972 and President of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental healt ...

from 1978 to 1981. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1981. Finally he served as Chief Scientist at the

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a Ministry (government department), ministry of the Her Majesty's Government, British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed b ...

from 1982, until his retirement in 1985. He delivered the

Goulstonian Lecture The Goulstonian Lectures are an annual lecture series given on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians in London. They began in 1639. The lectures are named for Theodore Goulston (or Gulston, died 1632), who founded them with a bequest. By his ...

to 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 ...

in 1961 on the subject of the ''Psychiatric Aspects of Epileptic Brain-damaged Children''. He married physician Helen Jordan, and the couple had three daughters. Pond died of cancer, in Torquay, in 1986.

References

Notes

Other sources

Neil Kessel William Ivor Neil Kessel (10 February 1925 – 30 December 2003) was a British psychiatrist with expertise in attempted suicide and alcoholism. He trained at the Maudsley Hospital under Sir Aubrey Lewis, before working with Michael Shepherd at the ...

, "Pond, Sir Desmond Arthur" (1919–1986)’, rev. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004; online edn, Sept 201
accessed 18 October 2012
* "POND, Sir Desmond (Arthur)", ''

Who Was Who ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It has been published annually in the form of a hardback book since 1849, and has been published online since 1999. It has also been published on CD-ROM. It lists, and gives information on, people from around ...

'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 200
accessed 1 Feb 2012
*
Obituary
in the ''

British Medical Journal ''The BMJ'' is a fortnightly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, which in turn is wholly-owned by the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pond, Desmond Arthur 1919 births 1986 deaths People from Catford People educated at St Olave's Grammar School British psychiatrists Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Knights Bachelor 20th-century British medical doctors