Sir John Rogers Ellis, MBE (15 June 1916 – 16 June 1998) was a British physician. Ellis was educated at

Oundle Oundle () is a market town and civil parish on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 6,254 at the time of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is north of London and south-wes ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

where he was contemporary with

Michael Straight Michael Whitney Straight (September 1, 1916 – January 4, 2004) was an American publishing, magazine publisher, novelist, patron of the arts, a member of the prominent Whitney family, and a confessed spy for the KGB. Early life Straight was bor ...

. He was briefly in general practice in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

after

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

then became a

supernumerary Supernumerary means "exceeding the usual number". Supernumerary may also refer to: * Supernumerary actor, a performer in a film, television show, or stage production who has no role or purpose other than to appear in the background, more common ...

registrar on the medical unit of 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 ...

under Clifford Wilson. Took the MRCP in 1947. Ran introductory and membership courses. He was appointed sub-dean in 1948. Appointed consultant physician in 1951. He was the Assistant registrar at 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 ...

from 1957 to 1961. On the Council from 1969 to 1972. The education committee of the Royal College of Physicians sent him round every medical school in the UK and

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. A

Rockefeller Fellowship The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Seni ...

enabled him to do the same in the US. In 1964, he was part-time principal medical officer at the Ministry of Health with the special remit of postgraduate medical education. He served on the Todd Royal Commission on Medical Education.MEDICAL EDUCATION: THE TODD REPORT (Hansard, 22 April 1970)
/ref> In 1968, he recommended the merger of the thirty little university medical institutions in London into six large enough to be viable. That same year, Dean of London Hospital Medical College worked for the merger between the London, Bart's and

Queen Mary College Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University of London. Today, ...

Family

He married Joan Davenport, a physiotherapist, in 1942. They had two sons, one is a consultant physician in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and one former police officer, and two daughters.

Honours

*Knighted in 1980 *In commemoration of his work at the Royal London Medical School, he has since had a lecture theatre named after him. *Honorary member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Medicine and of the Swedish Medical Society

References

1916 births 1998 deaths 20th-century British medical doctors Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge Rockefeller Fellows Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Oundle School {{UK-med-bio-stub