Ralph Hudson Johnson

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(3 December 1933 – 1 July 1993) was a 20th-century British

neurologist Neurology (from , "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the nervous system, which comprises the brain, the ...

Early life and education

He was born on 3 December 1933 in

Sunderland, Tyne and Wear 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 ...

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 Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

. He won a double scholarship and obtained multiple degrees at both

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 ...

and

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Career

Johnson completed his training at

UCL Medical School UCL Medical School is the medical school of University College London (UCL), a public research university in London, England. The school provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programmes and also has a medical ...

in London, in 1958. In 1960, he moved to the

Radcliffe Infirmary The Radcliffe Infirmary was a hospital in central north Oxford, England, located at the southern end of Woodstock Road on the western side, backing onto Walton Street. Closed in 2007, after refurbishment the building was re-opened in October ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where he conducted research on

artificial respiration Artificial ventilation or respiration is when a machine assists in a metabolic process to exchange gases in the body by pulmonary ventilation, external respiration, and internal respiration. A machine called a ventilator provides the person air ...

for

poliomyelitis Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

and rehabilitation of

paraplegics Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in Motor control, motor or Sensory nervous system, sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congen ...

, winning awards from the Polio Research Fund,

British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...

and the Schorstein Medical Research Fellowship of Oxford University. He was awarded multiple doctorates and honorary doctorates throughout his career. In 1976 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were John A Simpson, Robert Martin Stuart Smellie, Henry G Morgan, and Reginald Passmore. 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. In 1987 he returned to Britain, taking up a Fellowship at

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

Death

A keen

apiarist A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees, a profession known as beekeeping. The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees in beehives, boxes, or other receptacles. The beekeeper does not control the creatures. The beekeeper o ...

, he died of anaphylactic shock after having been stung by a swarm of his own bees in his garden in

on 1 July 1993.

Publications

*''Disorders of the Automatic Nervous System'' (1974) with J M K Spalding *''

Multiple Sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

'' (1978) *''Neurocardiology'' (1985) with Lambie and Spalding

Family

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ralph Hudson 1933 births 1993 deaths People from Sunderland Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford British neurologists People educated at Lawrence Sheriff School People educated at Rugby School Academic staff of the University of Otago 20th-century British non-fiction writers