| |
 |
Dr. James Anthony Pearson (1942 - 2011)
Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences |
Dr. James Anthony (Tony) Pearson passed away on January 6, 2011. He was born in Weardale, County Durham, England, in 1942, and was educated at Wolsingham Grammar School. He completed his BSc Honours Degree in Physiology at King's College, University of Durham in 1963. His PhD was undertaken at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne from 1963-1966, where he studied the action of extracts of gastro-intestinal mucosa on the stomach and pancreas. He then became a Junior Lecturer at King's College, University of London, where his research interests changed to studies of the neuronal mechanisms of pain perception. In January 1969 he was recruited to the Department of Physiology at UBC and promoted to Professor in 1979. He retired in December 2007. He made major teaching contributions in the Honours Physiology Program but was most notable for his teaching of neurophysiology and neuroanatomy to medical and dental students. Aside from formal lecture and laboratory teaching, he devoted many out-of-class hours to the students who all benefitted from his warm, compassionate and engaging manner. In the 1970s, together with colleagues from the then Department of Anatomy, he pioneered a multi-disciplinary, team teaching and clinically relevant approach to neuroscience teaching in the MD Undergraduate Program that proved a great success and was a model for the development of the current problem-based curriculum. His last lecture to the medical and dental students in March 2007, was greeted by many tokens of appreciation and a prolonged standing ovation. He is survived by his wife of more than 40 years, Betty, and their son, James, and daughter, Anthea.
Tony will be sadly missed by our faculty and staff, and by the many generations of students who had the privilege of being taught by him. He was a valued colleague and, to many of us, a dear friend. No date has yet been set for a celebration of his life but further information will be posted on: www.cellphys.ubc.ca
|
|
|
|
|
