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

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

. 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 subdiv ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and educated at the John Lyon School in Harrow and at St Olave's Grammar School in

Orpington Orpington is a town and area in south east 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 Ma ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He graduated from

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a 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 University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

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 London ...

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 is located in the Collegiate Gothic-style West Campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The School of Medicine, along wit ...

, 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. 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. 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 health ...

from 1978 to 1981. He was

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

in 1981. Finally he served as Chief Scientist at the Department of Health and Social Security from 1982, until his retirement in 1985. He delivered the Goulstonian Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians 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 th ...

, "Pond, Sir Desmond Arthur" (1919–1986)’, rev. ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 201
accessed 18 October 2012
* "POND, Sir Desmond (Arthur)", '' Who Was Who'', 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 weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...

'' {{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