Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine

The Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine (1968–1999) was a London centre for the study and teaching of medical history. It consisted of the Wellcome Library and an Academic Unit. The former was and is a world-class library collection owned and managed by the Wellcome Trust and staffed by librarians including academic librarians who held honorary lectureships at University College London. The Academic Unit was a group of university staff appointed at University College London that conducted a programme of university teaching, thesis supervision, seminars, conferences and publications.

Directors of the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum and of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine

• 1913–1936 Henry S. Wellcome, LLD, DSc, FRS (Founder and Director)
• 1913–1925 C. J. S. Thompson, MBE (Curator)
• 1925–1934 L. W. G. Malcolm, MSc, PhD, FRSE (Conservator)
• 1934–1947 Captain Peter J. Johnston-Saint, MA, FRSE (Conservator) (photo)
• 1941–1945 Dr S. H. Daukes, OBE, MD
• 1946–1964 Edgar Ashworth Underwood, MD, FRCP
• 1964–1973 F. Noël L. Poynter, BA, PhD, Hon MD, FLA
• 1973–1979 Edwin Sisterton Clarke, MD, FRCP
• 1980–1981 Prof. Alfred Rupert Hall, MA, LittD, FBA (Chairman)
• 1981–1983 Peter O. Williams, MB, FRCP
• 1983–1987 Prof. William Paton, CBE, DM, FRCP, FRS

Librarians

• 1900–1913 C. J. S. Thompson
• 1913–1918 T. W. Huck, FLA
• 1919–1921 C. C. Barnard, MLA
• 1921–1925 W. R. B. Prideaux, BA, FLA (photo)
• 1925–1931 C. R. Hewitt, FLA
• 1932–1946 S. A. J. Moorat, MA, DipLib (obit)
• 1946–1953 W. J. Bishop, FLA
• 1954–1964 F. Noël L. Poynter, BA, PhD, Hon MD, FLA
• 1964–1973 E. Gaskell, BA, ALA
• 1973–1996 Eric J. Freeman, BA, ALA
• 1996–2004 David Pearson

In 1999 the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine was terminated, and in its place two new organisations were created: The Wellcome Library and the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL. Prof. Harold Cook was appointed Director of the Wellcome Centre at UCL from 2000-2009, while the following persons succeeded David Pearson as Librarians of the Wellcome Library.

• 2004–2009 Frances Norton
• 2010–2014 Simon Chaplin
• 2015– Robert Kiley (acting)

Academic Unit in 1992

• William Bynum MA MD PhD MRCP (Head) Allen MA PhD (Life Sciences)
• Janet Browne MA PhD (Life Sciences)
• Lawrence I. Conrad PhD (Islamic Medicine)
• Christopher Lawrence MB ChB PhD (Clinical Medicine)
• Michael Neve MA PhD (Human Biology)
• Vivian Nutton MA PhD (Classical Medicine)
• Roy Porter MA PhD (Social History of Medicine)
• Elizabeth (Tilli) Tansey BSc PhD (Modern Medical Science)
• Andrew Wear BA MSc PhD (Early Modern Medicine)

See also

• History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group