Michael Joseph Crumpton

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, FRS (born 7 June 1929) was Director of Research (Laboratories) for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories based in London (now part of Cancer Research UK).

Early life and education

Michael Joseph Crumpton was born on 7 June 1929, as the son of Charles and Edith Crumpton. He was educated at

Poole Grammar School Poole Grammar School (commonly abbreviated to PGS) is a selective, all‐boys grammar school and academy in the coastal town of Poole in Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is a member of the South West Academic Trust (SWAT). The school wa ...

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England, and University College Southampton (now

Southampton University , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

) and obtained a BSc 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 ...

(the awarding body at the time). He then worked at the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, obtaining a PhD, also from London University. From 1953 to 1955, he did

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

with the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

Career

From 1955 to 1960, he was a member of the scientific staff of the Microbiological Research Establishment, now part of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (or 'dstl' for short) based 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 ...

, near

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, and usually simply referred to as 'Porton Down'. From 1960–66 he was a Research Fellow in the

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 ...

Department of

St Mary's Hospital Medical School St Mary's is the youngest of the constituent schools of Imperial College London, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, wit ...

then part of London University, now part of

Imperial College Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

. Crumpton then joined the scientific staff at the National Institute for Medical Research based in

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18, ...

, London, becoming Head of the

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

Division from 1976–79 and the Cell Board from 1979–1983. The Institute moved to the new

Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Impe ...

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

in 2016. Crumpton became a non-executive Director of Imperial Cancer Research Technology Ltd, part of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund from 1989–1999 and was Chief Operating Officer from 1993–94. Crumpton was a member and later chairman of the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

’s steering committee for

Polysaccharide encapsulated bacteria The bacteria capsule is a large structure common to many bacteria. It is a polysaccharide layer that lies outside the cell envelope, and is thus deemed part of the outer envelope of a bacterial cell. It is a well-organized layer, not easily washe ...

from 1984–1991. He has also served on many other scientific and medical committees in England, Canada and the United States. Crumpton gave the

Bernal Lecture The Bernal Lecture was an annual lecture on the social function of science organised by the Royal Society of London and endowed by Professor John Desmond Bernal. It was last delivered in 2004, after which it was merged with the Wilkins Lecture and ...

in 2004 entitled: "Are low-frequency environmental fields a health hazard?".

Personal life

In 1960 he married Janet Elizabeth Dean, and they had one son and two daughters. Crumpton was created FRS in 1979 and was appointed a

in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crumpton, Michael Joseph 1929 births Living people People educated at Poole Grammar School Alumni of the University of Southampton National Institute for Medical Research faculty Fellows of the Royal Society Commanders of the Order of the British Empire