Papers of Professor David Greenfield, foundation Dean of the University of Nottingham Medical School; 1938-2005

The archive contains material belonging to Professor David Greenfield relating to both his professional and his personal life. The majority of the professional material relates to his time at the University of Nottingham and in particular to the first decade of the Medical School (1966-1976). The personal material reflects his involvement in the wider medical world with invitations and programmes for medical society and university dinners, open days and other events. There is also biographical material relating to Professor Greenfield and his family.

The collection contains:

Working files of papers relating to Professor Greenfield's time at the University of Nottingham, and his membership of professional bodies. Also includes material relating to Professor Greenfield's travel to other countries to assist in the planning of new medical schools and to medical education in general. (PDG 1);

Correspondence files including correspondence with medical colleagues, discussions on medical education and requests for references. Also personal correspondence with work colleagues, mainly relating to visits (PDG 2);

Material relating to Professor Greenfield's attendance at various events including conferences, lectures and social events. (PDG 3). Further cataloguing work is required on these papers and they are not yet available for viewing;

Personal papers including biographical material, memoirs of colleagues and ephemera (PDG 4). Further cataloguing work is required on these papers and they are not yet available for viewing;

Published material including articles written by Professor Greenfield and works collected by him relating to medical education (PDG 5);

Photograph albums showing Professor Greenfield's working life. The majority of the photographs show buildings and colleagues at the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham. There are also photographs from Professor Greenfield's time at Queen's University Belfast and St Mary's Medical School, London, photographs of various committees and panels of which he was a member and photographs concerning his international work (PDG 6);

Slides of talks given by Professor Greenfield (PDG 7);

Material relating to Professor Greenfield's wife Peggy Greenfield (PDG 8). Further cataloguing work is required on these papers and they are not yet available for viewing.

Further details about the contents of each of the individual series can be found in their individual catalogue entries.

Professor Archibald David Mant Greenfield, known by his second name of David, was the foundation Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and foundation Professor of Physiology at the University of Nottingham for fifteen years from 1966 to 1981. The Medical School at the University of Nottingham was the first new medical school to be built in Britain in the 20th century and as foundation Dean Greenfield was heavily involved in planning both the school and the attached University Hospital.

Born in 1917 David Greenfield was educated at Poole Grammar School before entering St Mary's Hospital Medical School on a scholarship in 1934. Upon registration he became a house physician, later joining a pathology trainee scheme for the Emergency Medical Services. During the Second World War Greenfield worked on researching the cause of black-outs in spitfire pilots flying tight turns, developing his interest in circulation in human limbs. In 1941 he became a junior lecturer in the Department of Physiology at St Mary's. In 1948 Professor Greenfield was appointed to the Chair of Physiology at the Queen's University of Belfast, a position he held for 16 years. During his time at Queen's Professor Greenfield took a one year sabbatical working at the San Francisco Medical Centre, University of California, and helped to develop a technique for testing cardiovascular reflex function that became extensively used by NASA. In 1964 he returned to St Mary's as Professor, remaining there for two years before leaving to take up his new position as the foundation Dean of the University of Nottingham Medical School.

In his fifteen year tenure as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Nottingham Professor Greenfield was responsible for overseeing the planning and building of the new medical school and for helping to devise a new medical curriculum. This was a significant challenge. When Professor Greenfield arrived at Nottingham in 1968 the site chosen for the medical school had not yet been acquired, the local area was understaffed in terms of health care provision, and the school was committed to accepting students in 1970, necessitating the use of temporary accommodation. Professor Greenfield successfully saw the fledgling medical school through these early challenges to see it become one of the leading medical schools in the country. By the time of Professor Greenfield's retirement in 1981 the Medical School was firmly established with an annual entry of 130 students and the University Hospital and Medical School buildings were complete and functioning under the name Queen's Medical Centre.

In addition to his University work Professor Greenfield was a member of the editorial boards of numerous cardiovascular journals, a member of the Medical Research Council until 1977, then medical member of the University Grants Committee and chairman of its medical sub-committee. He was also a member of the Medical Research Council. He also travelled widely advising many universities planning new medical schools, most notably the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Kuwait and the Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.

David Greenfield married Peggy Duane in 1943. The couple had two children, Peter and Catherine. Professor Greenfield died on 17th November 2005.

The collection has been divided according to subject or document type.

Accessible to all registered readers, but restrictions apply to uncatalogued series. Contact Manuscripts and Special Collections for advice.

Catalogue accessible from the website for Manuscripts and Special Collections, Manuscripts Online Catalogue. Copyright in the description belongs to The University of Nottingham.

Good.

Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections

The material was acquired in April 2007.

The University of Nottingham, Manuscripts and Special Collections: Records of the University of Nottingham Medical School, part of the Queen's Medical Centre (UAF1)

The University of Nottingham, Manuscripts and Special Collections: Papers of Professor Sam Shone (died 1986), Medical Administrator, 1962-1975 (Reference: Sh)