Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain

(Redirected from W. Russell Brain) British neurologist (1895–1966)

The Right HonourableThe Lord Brain
Brain in 1956
Born	Walter Russell Brain (1895-10-23)23 October 1895 Reading, England
Died	29 December 1966(1966-12-29) (aged 71)
Alma mater	New College, Oxford
Known for	Brain's reflex
Awards	Fellow of the Royal Society
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Oxford

Walter Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain (23 October 1895 – 29 December 1966) was a British neurologist. He was principal author of the standard work on neurology, Brain's Diseases of the Nervous System, and longtime editor of the neurological medical journal titled Brain. He is also eponymised with "Brain's reflex", a reflex exhibited by humans when assuming the quadrupedal position.

Career

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Brain was educated at Mill Hill School and New College, Oxford, where he started to study history, but disliked it. The First World War having begun in 1914, the following year he joined the Friends' Ambulance Unit as an alternative to volunteering for combat, and was sent to York, moving later to the King George Hospital in London, attached to the X-ray department. On the introduction of conscription in 1916, his work enabled him to be exempted as a conscientious objector.

After the war he returned to New College, and studied medicine, obtaining his BM BCh in 1922 and a DM in 1925; he specialised in neurology. Apart from his clinical practice, he was a member of a large number of government committees pertaining to physical and mental health, and was involved in the care of Winston Churchill on the latter's deathbed in 1965.

He was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1931 and was president of that college from 1950 to 1956.

He was knighted in 1952, made a baronet on 29 June 1954, and on 26 January 1962, was created Baron Brain, of Eynsham in the County of Oxford. In March 1964, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.

In 1964, he gave the presidential address (Science and Behaviour) to the British Association meeting in Southampton. In this address he discussed how humanity was approaching the anthropocene and he reiterated Alfred North Whitehead's warning that "A muddled state of mind is prevalent. The increased plasticity of the environment for mankind, resulting from the advances in scientific technology, is being construed in terms of habits of thought which find their justification in the theory of a fixed environment."

Family

He married Stella Langdon-Down and had two sons, Christopher (1926-2014) and Michael Cottrell Brain (b. 1928) and one daughter, Janet Stella Brain (b. 1931). Janet went on to marry Dr. Leonard Arthur. Christopher Langdon Brain succeeded his father as the 2nd Baron Brain. Upon the 2nd Baron's death in 2014, his brother, Michael, succeeded as 3rd Baron Brain.

Religious beliefs

He became a Quaker in 1931 and gave the Swarthmore Lecture in 1944, 'Man, society and religion', in which he stressed the importance of a social conscience.

Arms

Coat of arms of Russell Brain, 1st Baron Brain
	Crest A falcon Sable armed and belled Or supporting with the dexter claw a representation of the Silver Staff of Office of the President of the Royal College of Physicians of London Proper. Escutcheon Per pale Or and Argent three cats' heads erased Gules. Motto Mens Stella Cerebri

References

^ Pickering, G. W. (1968). "Walter Russell Brain First Baron Brain of Eynsham 1895-1966". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 14: 61–82. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1968.0004.
"Brain, Walter Russell, first Baron Brain". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/32035. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
"No. 39480". The London Gazette. 29 February 1952. p. 1191.
"No. 40224". The London Gazette. 6 July 1954. p. 3959.
"No. 42582". The London Gazette. 26 January 1962. p. 683.
"Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
Burton, K. J.; Renn, D. F. (September 1965). "The British Association for the Advancement of Science: The Southampton Meeting". Journal of the Institute of Actuaries. 91 (2): 199–202. doi:10.1017/S0020268100038774. JSTOR 41140083.
Hertz, David (1965). "The Unity of Science and Management". Management Science. 11 (6 series B): B89–B97. doi:10.1287/mnsc.11.6.b89.
Notices, The Telegraph, London, UK.
Notices, The Telegraph, London, UK.
Burke's Peerage. 1959.

Academic offices
Preceded byThe Lord Moran	President of the Royal College of Physicians 1950–1956	Succeeded byRobert Platt
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Brain 1962–1966	Succeeded byChristopher Brain
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baronet (of Reading) 1954–1966	Succeeded byChristopher Brain

v t e Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians
Thomas Linacre Thomas Bentley Richard Bartlot Edward Wotton John Clement William Freeman John Burgess Richard Bartlot John Fryer Robert Huick George Owen John Caius Richard Masters John Caius Robert Huick Thomas Francis John Symings Richard Caldwell John Caius John Symings Roger Giffard Richard Smith William Baronsdale William Gilbert Richard Forster Thomas Langton Henry Atkins Sir William Paddy Thomas Moundeford Richard Forster Henry Atkins Sir William Paddy Thomas Moundeford Richard Palmer Thomas Moundeford Henry Atkins John Argent John Giffard John Argent Simeon Fox Othowell Meverall John Clark Sir Francis Prujean Edward Alston Francis Glisson George Ent Sir John Micklethwaite Thomas Coxe Daniel Whistler Sir Thomas Witherley George Rogers Walter Charleton Thomas Burwell John Lawson Samuel Collins Sir Thomas Millington Edward Browne Josiah Clerk Charles Goodall William Dawes John Bateman Sir Hans Sloane Thomas Pellett Henry Plumptre Richard Tyson James Jurin William Wasey Thomas Reeve William Battie Sir William Browne Thomas Lawrence William Pitcairn Sir George Baker, Bt. Thomas Gisborne Sir George Baker, Bt. Thomas Gisborne Sir George Baker, Bt. Thomas Gisborne Sir Francis Milman, Bt. John Latham Sir Henry Halford, Bt. John Ayrton Paris Thomas Mayo Sir Thomas Watson, Bart. James Alderson Sir George Burrows, 1st Baronet James Risdon Bennett Sir William Jenner, Bt. Sir Andrew Clark, 1st Baronet Sir John Russell Reynolds, 1st Baronet Sir Samuel Wilks, Bt. Sir William Selby Church, Bt. Sir Richard Douglas Powell, Bt. Sir Thomas Barlow, 1st Baronet Sir Frederick Taylor, Bt. Sir Norman Moore, 1st Baronet Sir Humphry Rolleston Sir John Bradford The Viscount Dawson of Penn Sir Robert Hutchison, 1st Baronet The Lord Moran Sir Walter Russell Brain, Bt. Sir Robert Platt, Bt. Sir Edward Charles Dodds, Bt. Lord Rosenheim of Camden Sir Cyril Astley Clarke Sir Douglas Andrew Kilgour Black Sir Raymond Hoffenberg Dame Margaret Turner-Warwick DBE Sir Leslie Arnold Turnberg Sir Kurt George Alberti Dame Carol M. Black DBE Sir Ian Gilmore Sir Richard Thompson KCVO Dame Jane Dacre DBE Sir Andrew Goddard Sarah Clarke

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