211075 Downing Record 07 - Downing College - University of ...

He made lasting friendships in India with memorable colleagues including JamesRhind, Jerry Morris and Reg Passmore. He had graphic stories of his experiencesin Lucknow and Calcutta and in his travels when on leave, with sad accounts ofthe terrible famine and the diseases that he witnessed at first hand. In Assam, hishospital unit supported Field-Marshal Slim’s advance and he was especially proudof his laboratory’s record in ensuring prompt diagnosis and effective treatmentof the many patients who developed the debilitating infections that went withmilitary operations. He became one of the inspirational figures of postwar medicalmicrobiology in addressing our increasing concerns about staphylococcal andother healthcare-associated infections. His work on Staphylococcus aureus –initially the type 80/81 epidemic strain that caused severe hospital infections inthe 1950s and later the increasing antibiotic resistance amongst hospital isolatesleading to the MRSA problems of the 21st century is as relevant to medicalpractice today as when he led the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) Cross-Infection Reference Laboratory from 1961 to 1978 when he retired. He was aFounder Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. He edited the profession’sjournals and the standard text which latterly became Microbiology and MicrobialInfections as well as other works.This obituary is an extract from that published in theJournal of Medical Microbiology (2006), 55.Marmaduke Peter Goodwin Rawlinson (1933)Peter Rawlinson died on 29th May 2006. He came up to Downing from EpsomCollege. He read Natural Sciences and after graduation attended WestminsterHospital Medical School, qualifying as a doctor in July 1940. He served in theRoyal Army Medical Corps 1941–46. He obtained his Diploma in Public Health,and emigrated to Canada with his young family in 1949. He worked for the AlbertaGovernment Health Department for five years, and then for the Public HealthDepartment of the Canadian Federal Government, serving mostly in England butalso in Germany and Hong Kong. During his time at Downing he enjoyed ridingin point-to-points. Horses and riding were long-term interests; he became adedicated member of the Civil Service Riding Club, serving on its Committee andbecoming President. For several years he was Director of the annual London RidingHorse Parade in Hyde Park He was appreciated for his encouragement to noviceriders, and generally for his patience and good humour, which he maintained evenduring recent years of ill-health. He is survived but his wife Mary, son Jeremy anddaughter Ann.53