David Willis Wilson Henderson
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David Willis Wilson Henderson CB FRS (23 July 1903 – 16 August 1968) was a Scottish-born microbiologist; a former president of the
Society for General Microbiology The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...
and recipient of the US
Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
.


Early life and career

Born in Glasgow on 23 July 1903, Henderson subsequently attended the
Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...
, described by Sir
Tam Dalyell Sir Thomas Dalyell, 11th Baronet, , ( ; 9 August 1932 – 26 January 2017), known as Tam Dalyell, was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 1983 ...
, former
Father of the House of Commons Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously- ...
, as "a remarkable school" with "a formidable academic reputation." Matriculating at the
University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...
, reading agricultural bacteriology and enrolling at the
West of Scotland Agricultural College Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) is a public land based research institution focused on agriculture and life sciences. Its history stretches back to 1899 with the establishment of the West of Scotland Agricultural College and its current organi ...
, Henderson graduated in 1926, subsequently being appointed a lecturer in bacteriology at King's College,
Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...
, where, in 1930, he was awarded an MSc degree for his work on anaerobic infection in lambs. In the same year he married his first wife, Beatrice Mary Davenport Abell, daughter of Sir Westcott Abell, KBE, the celebrated naval architect and surveyor, and Professor of Naval Architecture at Armstrong College, an affiliated college of the University of Durham. In 1931, awarded a Carnegie Research Fellowship, Henderson embarked on research at
the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute, was established as a research institute (the British Institute of Preventive Medicine) in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, u ...
, London, and was subsequently awarded a Beit Memorial Research Fellowship for the years 1932–35. In 1934 Henderson was to be awarded a PhD from the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
for his thesis, 'Studies on the spore-bearing anaerobes with experiments on active and passive immunity.'


The war years

Engaged in research work on
immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...
and the effects of the administering of toxins via aerosols at the Lister Institute's Serum Department at Elstree, by summer of 1940 Henderson was to find himself seconded to the
Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. A separate ministry, however, was responsible for aircr ...
and working between the Lister Institute and the government's Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment, at
Porton Down Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl ...
in Wiltshire. In October 1940, on the instruction of the War Council a team of microbiologists was assembled, including David Henderson, to research use and protection against bacterial agents under the leadership of
Paul Fildes Sir Paul Gordon Fildes (10 February 1882 – 5 February 1971) was a British pathologist and microbiologist who worked on the development of chemical-biological weaponry at Porton Down during the Second World War.
. It was initially known as the Biology Department, Porton (BDP) and would later become the autonomous Microbiological Research Establishment. The same year Henderson was awarded a
DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...
degree by the University of London. In 1943 Henderson was one of a team sent to the United States to advise on protection against biological warfare and for the remainder of the
War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
was to continue his work on both sides of the Atlantic, for which work he was awarded in 1946 the US
Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
, Bronze Palm.


Later career

In January 1946 Henderson had succeeded Fildes at
Porton Down Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl ...
as director of the renamed microbiological research department and an advisory panel had been assembled by the Ministry of Supply under the chairmanship of
Maurice Hankey Maurice Pascal Alers Hankey, 1st Baron Hankey, (1 April 1877 – 26 January 1963) was a British civil servant who gained prominence as the first Cabinet Secretary and later made the rare transition from the civil service to ministerial office. ...
. Under Henderson's direction new laboratories at Porton Down were built between 1948 and 1951 and these and the work done there by Henderson and his team gained an international reputation in microbiology, recognised in the award to Henderson of the CB in 1957 and his election to the
Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in 1959, in which year the Ministry of Supply was dissolved and Henderson's department was to come within the remit of the
War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
. David Henderson was a founding member of the
Society for General Microbiology The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...
, a member of its committee from 1947 to 1951, and in 1963 was elected its president. He wrote and co-wrote numerous published scientific papers during his career. Henderson's first wife died in 1952 and in the following year he married Emily Helen Kelly of New York, a bacteriologist who had been his assistant in the USA during the War. David Willis Wilson Henderson died on 16 August 1968.


Awards and honours

1930 – MSc degree by
Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...
1934 – PhD by the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
1940 –
DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...
degree by the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
1946 – US
Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
, Bronze Palm 1957 –
Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as one ...
1959 –
Fellowship of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, David Willis Wilson 1903 births 1968 deaths Alumni of the University of Glasgow Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Hamilton Academy Recipients of the Medal of Freedom Alumni of Scotland's Rural College Scottish microbiologists British expatriates in the United States