Improving access to the papers of Thomas Ferguson Rodger
We received a grant from the Wellcome Trust’s Research Resources in Medical History (RRMH) grants scheme to catalogue and improve access to the papers of Thomas Ferguson Rodger. This collection contains material relating to the development of psychiatry and the treatment of mental health disorders in the mid twentieth century, and fits in with the RRMH grant scheme’s current theme: ‘Understanding the brain’. The RRMH grants scheme awarded a similar grant to the University’s Special Collections Department a few years ago to catalogue the papers of the psychotherapist Ronald David Laing.
Thomas Ferguson Rodger (1907-1978) was the first Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of Glasgow. He was appointed in 1949 and held the Chair until his retirement in 1973. His department was originally based at the Southern General Hospital, and Rodger was instrumental in establishing that hospital's reputation as a pioneer in combining Psychological Medicine and Neurological Sciences.
An acknowledged leader in his field, Rodger was a consultant psychiatrist to the Southern General and the Glasgow Western Infirmary; Honorary Consulting Psychiatrist to the Army in Scotland; Vice-President of the Royal College of Psychiatry, and he served on Government and World Health Organisation committees. He was appointed CBE in 1967 and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatry in 1972.
His collection of papers contain patient case notes; lectures and journal articles by Ferguson Rodger (some in draft form) and others; conference papers (including papers given by Ferguson Rodger); committee papers; and Government circulars.
For more information, see Thomas Ferguson Rodger's biography on University Story. See the full collection description for the Papers of Thomas Ferguson Rodger on our online catalogue.