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Sir Arthur William Mickle Ellis (4 May 1883 – 20 May 1966) was a British-Canadian physician, pathologist, and Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford (1943-1948).

Early life

Ellis was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on 4 May 1883, the son of Dr. William H. Ellis, Professor of Applied Chemistry and Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering in the University of Toronto and his wife Ellen Maude Mickle.

Early medical career

He was educated at Upper Canada College, and the University of Toronto, graduating BA MD in 1908.

Ellis's initial academic interest was in laboratory work and after an apprenticeship in the Sociological Laboratories in Toronto, he became demonstrator in pathology at the Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.

Ellis then became Assistant Resident Physician at the hospital of the Rockefeller Institute, New York City (1911-1914).

First World War

At the outbreak of the First World War Ellis joined the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps, he was appointed as assistant adviser in pathology to the 4th Army, rising to the rank of Major. Ellis was mentioned in despatches four times and was awarded the OBE for his service.

Interwar medical career in the United Kingdom

On demobilization at the end of the First World War (1918) he settled in London, England where he became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians in 1920. He was appointed as Professor of Medicine at London University in 1924, and Director of the Medical Unit at the Royal London Hospital.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1929, delivering the Croonian Lecture on The Natural History of Bright's Disease in 1941.

He made significant contributions to clinical research as a professor of medicine at the London Hospital, specifically in the field of kidney illnesses known as nephritis. He also worked on the Royal Commission on Population and was a founding member of the Birth Control Investigation Committee, which eventually became part of the Family Planning Association.

Second World War

During the Second World War Ellis became an adviser in medicine to the Ministry of Health (1941–42), and then Director of Research in Industrial Medicine for the Medical Research Council (1942–43). With the war ongoing, Ellis was appointed by King George VI as Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford in 1943, due to his reputation and breadth of experience in the fields of medical practice, research and administration.

The University of Toronto awarded Ellis an honorary Doctorate Degree in Law (LLD) in 1944.

Post-war career

Ellis remained Regius Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford until his retirement in 1948, at the age of 65, when he was appointed as Emeritus Professor by the university.

In 1951, he was awarded the Moxon Medal of the Royal College of Physicians of London in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the knowledge of diseases of the kidney.

He was knighted in the 1953 New Years Honours by Queen Elizabeth II.

Personal life

Sir Arthur William Mickle Ellis married Winifred Hadley Foot Mitchell, daughter of Sir William Foot Mitchell who was a Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Dartford and Saffron Walden, in September 1922. Their son, Timothy Mitchell Ellis, was born in St George Hanover Square, London, on 23 June 1923.

Ellis hosted a yearly boat race gathering at his home in Chiswick, with half the guests comprised London Hospital personnel, including all the consulting staff, and the other half from the diplomatic service. His hobby was salmon fishing in Iceland.

His wife passed away in 1965 after an extended illness. He died the following year, in London, in 1966.

References

1. "Archives of the Oxford Regius Professors of Medicine of the 20th century". Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
2. "Dr. William H. Ellis at blackboard". University of Toronto website. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
3. ^ "Sir Arthur William Mickle Ellis". Royal College of Physicians website. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
4. "Sir Arthur William Mickle Ellis". Retrieved 3 November 2023.
5. "Obituary: Sir Arthur Ellis". The Times. 23 May 1966. p. 14.

• 1883 births
• 1966 deaths
• University of Toronto alumni
• 20th-century British medical doctors
• Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians
• People from Old Toronto
• Regius Professors of Medicine (University of Oxford)
• 20th-century Canadian physicians
• Canadian knights
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• Canadian Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• Canadian emigrants to the United Kingdom