Cover image for
Resource Name:
Resource Type:
External Resource
Metadata
Asset Name:
E008526 - Alexander-Williams, John (1927 - 2015)
Title:
Alexander-Williams, John (1927 - 2015)
Author:
Sir Barry Jackson
Identifier:
RCS: E008526
Publisher:
London : Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date:
2015-10-22

2017-03-23
Description:
Obituary for Alexander-Williams, John (1927 - 2015), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Language:
English
Source:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Full Name:
Alexander-Williams, John
Date of Birth:
19 September 1927
Place of Birth:
Dudley, Worcestershire
Date of Death:
14 October 2015
Titles/Qualifications:
MRCS LRCP 1950

MB ChB Birmingham 1950

FRCS 1955

ChM 1961

MD 1969

FACS 1975
Details:
John Alexander-Williams was one of the country's best known gastroenterological surgeons noted not only for his surgical skill, teaching and many research contributions, but also for his *bonhomie* and *joie de vivre*, making him the life and soul of any meeting. John, often affectionately known by his initials as 'JAWS', was born in 1927 to Herbert Williams, a draftsman and newspaper distributor, and Gertrude Dora (née Alexander). He attended Dudley Grammar School and Sebright School in Wolverley, where he was made head boy in 1944 despite having sold stink bombs to the younger boys and organised a still in the rafters for the benefit of those a little older! In 1945 he proceeded to Birmingham University Medical School, where he won a prize for surgery in 1948. While a student he showed early dramatic promise being an enthusiastic member of the drama society and in 1950, the year he qualified, auditioned for a part in the new BBC radio series *The Archers*. Had he been successful in this audition perhaps he would have gone on to be a distinguished actor rather than a surgeon! National Service (from 1952 to 1954) was spent largely in Austria as a captain in the RAMC, but he was recalled at the time of the Suez Crisis and in 1956 was awarded the Suez Campaign medal. He became an FRCS in 1955. In 1959/60, while a senior registrar in Birmingham, he spent a year overseas as a research fellow to Owen Wangensteen in the Mayo Foundation, Minnesota, returning to become lecturer in surgery at the University of Birmingham in 1961 in the department headed by F A R Stammers. He was subsequently appointed consultant surgeon to Birmingham General Hospital in 1964, where he practiced for the rest of his career, being appointed professor of surgery in 1989. A lifelong socialist, he shunned private practice in favour of clinical surgery and research. Throughout his stellar career John was known for his work in the whole gamut of gastroenterology. A superb technical surgeon and an outstanding teacher, his research was initially in the field of peptic ulceration, notably in the development of selective, then highly selective, vagotomy as the preferred surgical option at a time when partial gastrectomy was the standard surgical treatment. But within a few years of his consultant appointment the need for any form of surgery for peptic ulceration virtually disappeared with the development of effective acid suppressants. He then made major contributions in the management of inflammatory bowel disease, especially Crohn's disease, in which he showed that conservative surgery was often to be preferred over major resection of the affected intestine. Nor did he neglect the anus! Haemorrhoids, fistulas, fissures and pruritis were all grist to his mill and a stream of publications on these often neglected subjects flowed from his pen. He was a prolific writer; as well as numerous original papers, chapters in textbooks and editorials, his books/monographs included *Partial gastrectomy. Complications and metabolic consequences* (London, Butterworths, 1963), *Vagotomy on trial* (London, William Heinemann Medical Books, 1973), *Intestinal fistulas* (Bristol, John Wright, 1982), *Vagotomy in modern surgical practice* (London, Butterworths, 1982) and *Inflammatory bowel diseases* (New York, Edinburgh, Churchill Livingstone, 1997). He was twice a Hunterian professor at the College, in 1963 and 1973, the first presentation titled 'The effects of upper gastrointestinal surgery on blood formation and bone metabolism' and the second titled 'Gastric reconstructive surgery'. Needless to say, he was in great demand as a lecturer both at home and overseas, and became noted for his skills of oratory and his dramatic flair. Before the days of the digital revolution, the author remembers him giving a stunning presentation using two projectors directed to a single screen each working alternately and without pause showing some 200 linked slides in 10 minutes or so. To the audience it was like watching a moving film with John providing the voiceover - the applause was deafening. The time spent in preparation must have been enormous. In 1983 he was elected to the council of the College, where he served diligently for 12 years, becoming vice president in 1994. In 1991 he delivered both the Zachery Cope lecture and the Bradshaw lecture. He was often the after dinner speaker at College dinners given his wit and lucidity. He gave the prestigious Hunterian Oration in 1995, his last year on Council, with the intriguing title of 'Accentuate the positive - eliminate the negative'. It was no surprise to gastroenterologists everywhere when he was elected president of the British Society of Gastroenterology for their 50th anniversary year in 1986. He was president of the section of coloproctology at the Royal Society of Medicine in 1988. Outside of surgery, John was a keen skier and gardener (his garden was open to charity each year) and he was notably talented in painting, drawing and sculpture, the latter giving him special pleasure in his years of retirement. In his early years he was also a mountaineer. He led a well-known colourful social life, but was devoted to his wife Betty (née Brain), a fellow medical student, whom he married in 1951. Betty predeceased him in 2014. There were five children. Sadly, his later years were marred by troublesome heart disease, which he bore stoically. He died on 14 October 2015 aged 88.
Sources:
*BMJ* 2015 351 6100 [www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h6100](www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h6100) - accessed 10 March 2017

Personal knowledge
Rights:
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
Collection:
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format:
Obituary
Format:
Asset
Asset Path:
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E008000-E008999/E008500-E008599
Media Type:
Unknown