Person
Pitney, William Robert (Bob) (1921 - 1986)
AO
- Born
- 2 December 1921
London, United Kingdom - Died
- 24 December 1986
Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia - Occupation
- Haematologist
Summary
William Pitney was one of Australia's pioneer haematologists. His research included the identification of Haemophilia B, work on B12 and folate metabolism, and the development of a thromboplastin-generation screening test that remained a standard diagnostic procedure for decades. He was particularly interested in the haematological side-effects of therapeutic agents. In the 1960s Pitney was involved in devising significant projects in tropical anaemia and splenomegaly in Papua New Guinea. In 1970 he was appointed to the foundation Chair of Medicine at St George Hospital, Sydney, and built it into a significant teaching hospital in association with the University of New South Wales. Pitney played an active role in the founding of the Haematology Society of Australia, the (Royal) College of Pathologists of Australia, and the Australian and New Zealand Lymphoma Group.
Details
Chronology
- 1926
- Life event - Migrated to Australia with his family
- 1943
- Education - MB BS, university of Melbourne
- 1943 - 1944
- Career position - Resident Medical Officer, St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne
- 1945 - 1946
- Career position - Served with the Royal Australian Air Force
- 1947 - 1949
- Career position - Pathology Registrar, Royal Hobart Hospital
- 1948
- Education - MD, University of Melbourne
- 1948 - 1959
- Career position - Member, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- 1951
- Career position - Registrar and Research Assistant, Haematology Department, Royal Postgraduate Medical School of London, Hammersmith Hospital, London
- 1952 - 1954
- Career position - Research scientist, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.A.
- 1955
- Career position - Lecturer (part-time), Haematology Department, Royal Postgraduate Medical School of London, Hammersmith Hospital, London
- 1956
- Career position - Foundation Member, College of Pathologists of Australia
- 1956 - 1961
- Career position - Haematologist, Royal Perth Hospital, Western Australia
- 1959 - 1986
- Career position - Fellow, College of Pathologists of Australia
- 1959 - 1986
- Career position - Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- 1961
- Career position - Foundation Member, Haematology Society of Australia
- 1961 - 1967
- Career position - Council Member, Haematology Society of Australia
- 1961 - 1967
- Career position - Haematologist, Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney
- 1962 - 1967
- Career position - Member, Board of Censors, (Royal) College of Pathologists of Australia
- 1962 - 1967
- Career position - Associate Professor of Pathology (Haematology), University of New South Wales
- 1965 - 1967
- Career position - Member, Editorial Board, Australasian Annals of Medicine
- 1966
- Career position - Joint Secretary-General, 11th Congress, International Society of Haematology and International Society of Blood Transfusion, Sydney
- 1967 - 1970
- Career position - Reader in Haematology and Honorary Director, Wellcome Research Laboratory, Royal Postgraduate Medical School of London, Hammersmith Hospital, London
- 1968
- Career position - Charter Member, International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
- 1970 - 1982
- Career position - Foundation Chair of Medicine, St George Hospital, Sydney
- 1973 - 1977
- Career position - Chief examiner in Haematology, Royal College of Pathologists of Australia
- 1982 - 1985
- Career position - Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales
- 1984
- Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for service to medicine, particularly in the field of haematology
- 1985
- Life event - Retired
- 1986
- Award - Hon. MD, University of New South Wales
Related entries
Published resources
Book Sections
- Carmody, John, 'Pitney, William Robert (1921-1986), Haematologist and Medical Educator' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 18 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2012), pp. 289-90. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pitney-william-robert-15838. Details
Journal Articles
- Gunz, F. W., 'William Robert Pitney, 1921 - 1986', Pathology, 19 (4) (1987), 433-4. Details
- Schonell, Malcolm, 'William Robert Pitney', Medical Journal of Australia, 146 (1987), 386. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q22811176. Details
- 'Pitney, William Robert (19211202-19861224)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1515892. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 14 August 2019