David Malcolm Potts (8 January 1935 – 25 April 2025) was a British human reproductive scientist and professor of public health at the School of Public Health at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Potts was the first holder of the Fred H. Bixby-endowed chair in Population and Family Planning and founding director of the Bixby Center for Population, Health, and Sustainability at the School of Public Health.

Life and career

Potts was born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, England on 8 January 1935. He completed a medical degree and a PhD in

embryology Embryology (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logy, -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the Prenatal development (biology), prenatal development of gametes (sex ...

(on the electron microscopy of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

ian implantation) at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. While at Cambridge, he co-founded the first clinic offering contraception to young people. He advised

David Steel David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood (born 31 March 1938) is a retired Scottish politician. Elected as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency), Roxb ...

on the UK's 1967 Abortion Act. He was the first male doctor at the Marie Stopes Clinic in London. He became the first medical director of the International Planned Parenthood Federation in 1968. In 1972, he was the first physician to promote the technique of uterine manual vacuum aspiration. He then moved to the United States and became CEO of Family Health International (FHI) from 1978 to 1990. During this period, FHI became the largest global AIDS prevention programme outside of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

. Potts published ten books and over 350 scientific papers and articles. His books include ''Abortion'' (co-written with Peter Diggory and John Peel, 1977), ''Textbook of Contraceptive Practice'' (1st edition co-written with John Peel, 1969; 2nd edition co-written with Peter Diggory, 1983; long the key textbook in the field), ''Queen Victoria's Gene'' (written with his brother Prof. William Potts), ''Ever since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality'' (written with Dr Roger Short, 1999) and ''Sex and War: How Biology Explains Warfare and Terrorism and Offers a Path to a Safer World'' (co-written with Thomas Hayden, 2008). He worked as a consultant to the World Bank and the British, American, Canadian and Egyptian governments. He served as: *Founding Director, The Bixby Center for Population, Health, and Sustainability, 1992–2013. *Board member, Population Services International, Washington, DC. *Board Member, Venture Strategies for Health and Development, Berkeley, CA. *Chair, Division of Community Health and Human Development, School of Public Health. *Chair, Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, University of California, Berkeley. *Head, Global Health Specialty Area, School of Public Health. *Fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2003. Potts was married four times, including to Caroline Deys in 1966, and had four children. He died from Alzheimer's disease in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

on 25 April 2025, at the age of 90.https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/malcolm-potts-obituary?id=58316758

References

External links

Bixby Center for Population, Health, and Sustainability

UC Berkeley faculty home page

Publications
from

PubMed PubMed is an openly accessible, free database which includes primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institute ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Malcolm 1935 births 2025 deaths American public health doctors 21st-century British medical doctors Alumni of the University of Cambridge People associated with Planned Parenthood UC Berkeley School of Public Health faculty