Honorary and Life Members

Professor Jonathan Sandy undergraduate training in London (Kings College Dental School), specialised as a Consultant Orthodontist (Eastman Dental Institute) and then embarked on an academic career.  He was awarded an MRC Research Training Fellowship and after completing a PhD was MRC funded as a postdoctoral scientist in the Biochemistry Department, University of Cambridge.  Appointed to Bristol University as a Consultant Senior Lecturer in orthodontics 1991, promoted to a Reader in 1997 and awarded a Personal Chair in 1999.  Head of Bristol Dental School for 7 years before taking on the Faculty leadership role as Inaugural Dean of Faculty of Health Sciences (Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Sciences) University of Bristol for 6 years.   Co-authored four books and over 300 peer reviewed publications.  Career total grant funding exceeded £5 million

In early years, Professor Sandy's research interests were in developmental biology and a small research group was formed looking at palate development and influences of matrix-metallo-proteinases, integrins and gene regulation.  The latter determined with early adoption of micro-array gene chips.  Research from the postgraduate training programme developed the 5-Year-Old dentoalveolar index and some psychosocial measures. 

In parallel, the seminal work of Gunvor Semb and Bill Shaw in Europe had resulted in questions being asked about the standard of cleft care and outcomes in the UK.  The Department of Health funded the Clinical Standards Advisory Group (CSAG) study and a combined research team (Bristol and Manchester) provided the evidence to the main CSAG committee which enabled Professor John Murray to deliver the CSAG report. The evidence was compelling and derived from a meticulous study.  The recommendations were accepted by Government and the 57 cleft centres were reorganised into a centralised model of care over a number of years.  Various implementation and monitoring committees effected the centralisation of cleft care and the extant Cleft Development Group (CDG) is charged with continuing to monitor process and outcomes.  In addition there was a recognised need for a national registry which Bristol started to develop and after various false starts was housed in the Audit Unit at the Royal College of Surgeons.  This now exists in the College as CRANE working with the CDG and cleft teams to maintain standards of excellence.

Some 15 years as part of a multi-disciplinary team led by Professor Andy Ness I supported the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded programme (Cleft Care UK) where we evaluated the impact of the centralisation of cleft services following the recommendations made by the CSAG in 1998. The study repeated and extended the original CSAG survey by reviewing the treatment and outcomes of around 250 five-year old children born with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate. It also examined the characteristics of cleft teams, and the economic impact of the centralisation of cleft services.  Results of this study showed significant changes and improvements in overall cleft care in the UK since centralisation.

Centralisation also provided a significant research opportunity in that working with fewer centres and focused cleft care recruitment to studies was more easily facilitated.  The enthusiasm and commitment of the clinical cleft care teams enabled the development of the Scar Free Foundation birth cohort gene backed study known as the Cleft Collective.

The Cleft Collective is addressing the three most important questions that a parent of a cleft child may ask;

• What has caused my child’s cleft?
• Will my child be OK in later life?
• What are the best treatments for my child?

More than 3,000 children and their families are being recruited to the Cleft Collective hosted by the University of Bristol.  The Cleft Collective also worked with the Centre for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England on the psychological issues associated with cleft lip and palate and the support needed by families and children.

Within a generation, we will know more about the causes of cleft, the impact of cleft on a child’s life and the best treatments, offering new hope for the many thousands of families affected by cleft each year throughout the world.

PROFESSOR NICHOLA RUMSEY OBE, PhD

A Health Psychologist by training, Nichola founded the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) at UWE, Bristol in 1992.  Alongside academic roles developing and leading the BSc Psychology, MSc Health Psychology & Professional Doctorate in Health Psychology programmes at UWE, Nichola remained a Director of CAR until her retirement from UWE in 2017.  During this time, CAR grew from the initial core team of one Research Associate & one PhD student to a critical mass of more than 40 researchers – the largest centre in the field of appearance research in the world.   

During this time, Nichola’s international reputation for her research into the psychology of visible difference grew.  She published widely in the field and to date and has delivered in excess of 100 invited presentations at conferences and public engagement events around the globe.  She has led and participated in several international research collaborations on the psychological aspects of cleft and other visible differences.  She has also developed and delivered training programmes for members of the Royal College of Surgeons (England), BAAPS, BAPRAS and the Australasian Foundation for Plastic Surgery (AFPS).    

She was a member of the UK’s Dept of Health’s Cleft Implementation Group from 1998-2004 and was involved in drafting guidance underpinning the inclusion of psychologists as a core member of every UK multidisciplinary cleft team.  She was lead of the Global Task Force on Patient Centred Outcome Measures in Cleft from 2013-2021.  

Nichola was the first psychologist to be elected President of the CSFGBI (2003-2004).  She is proud to be an Honorary Life Member of the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain & Ireland, the British Burns Association (BBA) & the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).  She was appointed Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2016 for her work with people with visible differences.  

Since retiring from UWE, Nichola has been working as a Consultant Research Psychologist in Australia, Europe & the UK, developing training and clinical aids designed to improve standards of patient care in the cosmetic and reconstructive plastic surgery sectors.  

For further details see www.nicholarumsey.com

Debbie qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) in the mid-1970s and following several community and hospital positions, she joined Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in the early 1980s. It wasn’t long before she was wearing a white coat in the Cleft and Craniofacial clinics!

She was very lucky to be invited to lead the speech component of the Sri Lankan Cleft Lip and Palate Project which inspired her PhD study on speech in patients with unoperated and late-operated cleft palate. Witnessing the lack of speech therapy in Sri Lanka, she went on to co-found the Speech and Language Therapy course at the University of Kelaniya and the establishment of the profession in that country, an achievement of which she is particularly proud. The model used informed subsequent courses developed in Bangladesh and Uganda. 

Debbie became Lead SLT in the North Thames Regional Cleft Service, GOSH, alongside being Head of the Speech and Language Therapy Department. She recognised early on the importance of evaluating clinical practice and outcomes in cleft care and soon was practising as a Clinician/Researcher way before the existence of the recognised NIHR clinical academic pathway! Latterly she worked as a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Outcomes and Experience Research in Children’s Health, Illness and Disability at GOSH and over the years held several honorary academic appointments including Visiting Professor at City University London and De Montford University, Senior Research Fellow University of Sheffield, Honorary Senior Lecturer Institute of Child Health, and Senior Clinical Lecturer University College London. 

Debbie’s research interests included the development and testing of perceptual speech outcome tools in cleft palate/VPD, including the UK clinical screening tool – the Great Ormond Street Speech Assessment known as GOS.SP.ASS. and the Cleft Audit Protocol for Speech-Augmented (CAPS-A), both of which are used nationally and internationally. In the mid-1990s, Debbie was privileged to be invited as the SLT representative on the CSAG Committee. She directed the speech research of the national study and served as a member of the National Cleft Implementation Group. Over a decade later, she contributed to the Cleft Care UK study evaluating the major reorganisation of Cleft Services brought about by the CSAG initiatives. Debbie was also involved in several international multicentre studies, including the Eurocleft and the Americleft Speech studies, and a study identifying a core outcome set in the management of velopharyngeal dysfunction. Her most recent research, with Dr Triona Sweeney, has focussed on parent-led articulation therapy in children with cleft palate, supported by therapists and technology, and she is a Founder and Co-Director of Speech@Home (www.speech@home.org). She has also contributed to numerous multidisciplinary studies on speech outcomes following speech-related surgery, prosthetics, and 22q11DS, often with her PhD students. She continues to serve as a section editor for the Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal.

Debbie is widely published with more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and is the co-editor of two textbooks. She co-developed teaching video materials for the speech assessments, GOS.SP.ASS. and CAPS-A, including a ‘training the trainer’ programme for the delivery of CAPS-A courses (www.caps-a.com) to ensure its sustainability into the future. She initiated the first Speech and Language Therapists’ UK nasendoscopy training course for speech/velopharyngeal function and was joint organiser of the first national multidisciplinary prosthetics course for speech/velopharyngeal dysfunction. She has lectured extensively both nationally and internationally.

Debbie has received several awards including an OBE from the now-King for services to the National Health Service and a Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. She was featured in the Independent on Sunday as one of the top ten speech and language therapists at the time and was a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Latrobe and the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne undertaken as a sabbatical, the first awarded to an Allied Health Professional at GOSH.

Debbie was very proud to be President of the CSFGB&I in 1996 and is delighted to be an Honorary Life Member of the Society. Since retirement, Debbie has continued her interests in cleft speech outcomes and service delivery in low and middle-income countries.  For example, she is a global adviser to Transforming Faces and adviser to the Circle of Cleft Professionals; and initially a member of the research committee of CLEFT-Bridging the Gap and more latterly the international committee. She was an invited co-chair of the Speech Taskforce at the International Congress in Edinburgh, 2022 and is deputy chair of the Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Conditions Committee of the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (known as IALP). Alongside Speech@Home, she regularly undertakes mentoring and supervision, and usually has an academic activity on the go!

Adrian Sugar trained in maxillofacial surgery in South Wales, Washington DC, Lucknow, Arnhem, Basel and Leeds.   He was appointed consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the Welsh Plastic and Maxillofacial unit in Chepstow and soon developed a special interest in clefts and craniofacial deformity.  His interests focussed on alveolar bone grafting and cleft orthognathic surgery.  The former were audited annually at a time when that was hardly ever done and the results of maxillary advancements by osteotomy were compared with distraction osteogenesis.  Transferring with the unit to Morriston Hospital in Swansea, in 1996-7 he collaborated to prepare the cohort data in Wales for the DoH CSAG cleft study which initiated the badly needed changes in cleft care in the UK as a whole.  During this period he also developed a strong interest in the treatment of hemifacial microsomia, speaking, publishing and learning all the time.

Council member and later elected president of CFSGBI in 2004, he became the society’s nominated Trustee of The Healing Foundation (THF), renamed later the Scar Free Foundation, and later Vice-Chair of the selection committee for THF Vocational TC Trust Cleft Research Centre.  This developed the research centres initially in Manchester and Bristol which became the Cleft Collective backed by the Gene Bank in Bristol.  Redesignated by the Welsh Government as a cleft surgeon in 2003, he devoted 60% of his paid sessions to cleft care which came to include 11 years as Associate Clinical Director to Liz Albery and later as Clinical Director and during all that time held the cleft budget.

After a fractious period which culminated in the transfer of the CRANE database to the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Adrian was elected chair of the UK Cleft Development Group (CDG) which represented all clinicians, managers, commissioners and patients involved in cleft care and was responsible for the development and running of the database, and had oversight of the new centres as they were developed under the aegis of the Cleft Implementation Group on which he served for a short while.  He expressed interest when NHS England advertised the Chair of a new Clinical Reference Group for Cleft Lip and Palate, expecting that as a cleft clinician in the devolved health service of Wales, this would be turned down, as it was.  Two days later he was appointed to the position and that group and all the cleft specialties it represented developed the Cleft Service Specifications for NHS England which were replicated more or less in Wales and Scotland subsequently.

Adrian has published 86 papers in peer reviewed journals many on cleft and craniofacial anomalies and been invited to give 214 lectures nationally and internationally as well as having written several book chapters.  He also wrote the AOCMF Surgical Reference teaching websites on clefts and hemifacial microsomia.  Among a number of prizes, he was pleased to receive the Downs Surgery of BAOMS and the international Tjellstrom award for Excellence in Contribution to Enhancing the Quality of Life for those requiring Rehabilitation of the Head and Neck.

Jane recently retired from the position of Lead Specialist Speech & Language Therapist with the West Midlands Cleft Lip and Palate Team. Specialising in this field for many years she completed her doctorate in 1991, winning the Arnold Huddart Medal in the same year.

She has published chapters and papers on cleft palate and craniofacial anomalies. A CFSGBI member since its pre-constitutional days, Jane was Honorary Secretary (1993/97) and President in 2006.

She currently represents CFSGBI in its capacity as one of the founding and partner organisations of The Healing Foundation.

Kathy Chapman is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Utah in the USA. She has an impressive research record in the field of communication development in children with cleft lip and palate and has made a significant contribution to our understanding of this important area.

Jan Lilja is Associate Professor, Senior Consultant and Director of The Cleft Lip and Palate Unit in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is also Editor-in-chief for the Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery.

He is an eminent surgeon with an international reputation who has been dedicated to his work in our speciality area for many years. He has built up an archive of analysed material and has been prepared to submit his results to external evaluation.

He has taken his surgical expertise to developing countries and has also helped the teams at Manchester and Great Ormond Street. His input has been described as "much more than a guest surgeon". He is without doubt a team player.

Peter Gornall, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at Birmingham Children's Hospital, England, was awarded Honorary Membership in recognition of his work both regionally and nationally in promoting multidisciplinary team working and the involvement of Paediatricians in Cleft teams.

Mr Tony Watson was the mainstay of the Scottish Cleft Lip and Palate services and one of the instigators of the Craniofacial Anomalies Registrar, which has now developed into a national database, referred to as CRANE. He has made a special contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the field of cleft lip and palate through his publications.

Mr Watson published the second edition of his book Management of Cleft Lip and Palate, which was co-edited by Debbie Sell and Pam Grunwell. Mr Watson was also very involved with the Healing Foundation. He has also worked in the developing world. Mr Watson's career has contributed so much to the advancement of knowledge in the field and still contributes even in retirement.

Professor Pam Grunwell was Professor of the Dept of Human Communications at Leicester University. As a renowned linguistic and phonetician, she has made a major contribution to the advancement of knowledge in the area of speech problems associated with cleft lip and palate.

Pam had a supervisory role in almost all of the post-graduate research that has been carried out in the UK and in Ireland during the 1990's. She produced a book called Analysing Cleft Palate Speech, based on much of this research. She has been co-author of many papers published in the UK and Ireland addressing the descriptions of speech characteristics associated with Cleft Palate.

Pam was the project Director for the Eurocleft speech studies, which carried out the first significant crosslinguistic investigation of speech problems in Cleft Lip and Palate.

Professor Khursheed Moos, Honorary Professor of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery - Glasgow University (1992) and Consultant Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon - West of Scotland Plastic and Maxillofacial Unit, Canniesburn Hospital, Glasgow (1974 - 1999).

Research interests included Craniomaxillofacial trauma (especially orbital trauma), Craniofacial deformity (especially resulting craniosynostosis and hemifacial microsomia), three dimensional planning for orthognathic & craniofacial surgery and Craniofacial implant reconstruction.

Contribution to books:
Surgery of the Mouth and Jaws, Section 2, Chapter 3 - 9 (Ed. J R Moore) 1985;
Companion to Dental Studies, Chapter 27 (Ed. A H R Rowe and R B Johns);
Plastic Surgery in Infancy and Childhood, Chapter 18 (Ed. J C Mustarde & I T Jackson);
Operative Maxillofacial Surgery, Chapter 35 - Craniofacial Surgery (Ed. J D Langdon & M F Patel).

Various papers on cranio-orbital trauma, orthognathic surgery, craniofacial surgery in British, American, European Journals of (Cranio) Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and editorials in British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Awarded the OBE.

Mr F Brian Christie. His first Consultant Orthodontic post was at Glasgow Dental Hospital in 1972. He was appointed to run the cleft palate unit from the Dental Hospital, but with clinics at both the Plastic Surgery Unit, Canniesburn and the Royal Hospital For Sick Children. His main interest was to develop Presurgical Oral Orthopoedics, which had been pioneered by Kerr McNeil, his predecessor. Initially, he was very enthusiastic about this Programme, but latterly questioned its real merits.

He moved to Stoke Mandeville Hospital and Wycombe Hospital in 1975. This was a new appointment with the remit to provide a Consultant orthodontic service to the county of Buckinghamshire. An important part of this was the cleft palate service where a programme of Neonatal Primary Surgery was being pioneered at Stoke Mandeville. This appointment offered a broader scope to practice the full range of Orthodontics and he was much impressed by the pioneering cleft palate programme, which appeared to offer potentially the best solution. The results of this work were widely published.

He also published papers and books where he contributed chapters to:
Surgery in Infancy and Childhood, Dennison, 3rd edition;
Face, Mouth and Jaws, F B Christie and J C Mustarde (Churchill Livingstone - 1974);
Plastic Surgery in Infancy and Childhood, Mustarde and Jackson, Chapter 2;
Orthodontics in Cleft Lip and Palate, F B Christie (Churchill Livingstone - 1988);
Neonatal Surgery of the Cleft Lip and Palate, Desai - Chapter 4;
Orthodontic Management, F B Christie (World Scientific - 1997).

Dr Harold Slavkin is an internationally renowned researcher in Craniofacial Biology. With a background in dentistry, he led a large and successful research group at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles before moving to become Director of the National Institute for Craniofacial and Dental Research at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Dr Slavkin subsequently returned as Dean of the Dental School at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.

Dr J C Murray is a distinguished Medical Geneticist working at the University of Iowa, USA. Dr Murray has been involved in a number of important investigations to identify genes involved in human diseases and disorders.

He has pioneered the application of modern medical genetic techniques to craniofacial and other anomalies. His group was involved with the effort to sequence parts of the human genome.

Professor S Berkowitz DDS MS FICD was Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Surgery and Co-Director of the Craniofacial Anomalies Program at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Previously Director of Craniofacial Program, University of Miami School of Medicine (1990-1994); Craniofacial Anomalies Lecturer and Adjunct Professor - Orthodontics, University of Illinois College of Dentistry and Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine. Past President, American Cleft Palate Association Educational Foundation and Florida Cleft Palate Association. Honoree - Edward Angle Society of Orthodontics. Honoree - First International Cleft Palate Association.

He has published widely in the dental, medical, and cleft lip/palate literature. Dr. Berkowitz is the author of Volume I and the editor of Volume II of Cleft Lip and Palate: Perspectives in Management; has co-authored a textbook with S. A. Wolfe, M.D., entitled Plastic Surgery of the Facial Skeleton; and has written The Cleft Palate Story for parents of children with cleft lip/palate. Dr. Berkowitz is a speaker on cleft lip/palate topics and has presented many workshops and seminars in the United States and abroad.

His research interest focuses on improving treatment planning for cleft lip and/or palate and other craniofacial anomalies. Currently, Dr. Berkowitz is Project Director of a program that is studying the long-term effects of various treatment procedures on palatal and facial development.

Professor Samuel Noordhoff MD FACS. Born in Orange City, Iowa, USA and graduate of Hope College (BA degree) and the University of Iowa College of Medicine. All of his active surgical career was in Taipei, Taiwan.

He served as the Superintendent of the Mackay Memorial Hospital and the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. He retired in 1999 as Superintendent Emeritus and Chief of Plastic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Professor of Surgery. Chang Gung University and College of Medicine.

Sam and Lucy his wife have four children. He continues to be active in charity work with the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation, establishing cleft centers in the Philippines, Cambodia, India and China.

Mr Ron W Pigott, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Frenchay Hospital, Bristol 1969-94; Senior Registrar, Stoke Mandeville Hospital 1962-68; Robert Johnson Fellow, University of Miami 1967.

Pioneered endoscopy of velopharyngeal isthmus in the condition of velopharyngeal incompetence; developed split screen recording of endoscopic and radiological exam of velopharyngeal isthmus with A.P.W. Makepeace; pioneered computer-based assessment of symmetry for application to cleft lip and nose deformity with B. Coghlan and D. Matthews.

Publications: many papers and chapters regarding investigation and treatment of cleft lip and palate in:
Advances in the Management of Cleft Lip and Palate, 1980;
Clinics in Plastic Surgery, 1985;
Scott-Brown's Paediatric Otolaryngology, 5th edn 1987;
Current Therapy in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 1989;
articles in Lancet, Brit. J. Plastic Surgery, Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, Annals Plastic Surgery, Scandinavian J Plastic Reconstructive Surgery.

Dr Gunnilla Henningsson is one of the foremost European speech pathologists, having made an excellent contribution to speech research in cleft lip and palate/velopharyngeal insufficiency, in so doing restablishing the role of speech pathology in the team.

She gained her PhD from the Karolinska Institute in 1988, where she is now Associate Professor. This has greatly contributed to the understanding of velopharyngeal insufficiency and the impact on this of tonsils, fistulae and glottal articulation. She has also been interested in the early intervention of babble patterns of infants born with cleft lip and palate.

She has published book chapters and more than twenty papers in English, many in the "Cleft Palate Journal". She is a member of the Eurocleft Speech Group, in which she is developing a particular interest in cross-linguistic analysis of cleft palate speech. Dr Henningsson has a sound knowledge of research methodology, and is committed to furthering speech pathology in the future

Professor IT Jackson MBChB FRCS FACS FRACS(Hon) graduated in Glasgow and completed his training in Plastic Surgery in the West of Scotland Plastic and Maxillofacial Unit at Canniesburn Hospital. He was appointed Consultant there in 1969 and for 10 years developed the sub-specialty of Craniomaxillofacial Surgery, with a special interest in craniofacial problems and cleft lip and palate surgery, developing new techniques in both fields in a most effective and productive way.

He subsequently became Professor and Head of the Section of Plastic Surgery in the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where he was able to expand his interests in craniofacial surgery. In 1989 he became Director of the Institute of Craniofacial Reconstructive Surgery and Chief of Plastic Surgery in Providence Hospital, Southfield, Michigan.

He has written numerous books and published papers ranging over the whole of craniofacial and head and neck surgery. He is an outstanding teacher and has been recognised with honours in many parts of the world.

Bruce Ross, head of the cleft palate and craniofacial anomalies group at the Hospital for Sick Childrenl in Toronto, Canada, has contributed greatly to our knowledge of the effects of cleft palate on the craniofacial structures.

Dr Paul Tessier pioneered craniofacial surgery in the 1960s at Hopital Foch, Suresnes near Paris, operating on hypertelorism patients and undertaking mid-face advancements.

Dr Tessier continued to contribute to Craniofacial Surgery, in particular with his anatomical descriptions of various deformities and craniofacial clefts as well as with continued technical advances, such as cranial bone grafting, over the next 30 years of his career. He is unanimously recognised as the "Father of Craniofacial Surgery".

Mr W Hynes: a Plastic Surgeon from Sheffield, who had extensively studied and written about a range of topics in Plastic Surgery including flap vasculature and, of particular relevance to the Craniofacial Society, cleft palate speech and pharyngoplasty.

He gave a Hunterian Lecture in 1953 on his Hynes pharyngoplasty - which is still used to this day.

Dr Muriel Morley: At a time when many people still confused speech therapy with elocution training, Dr Muriel Morley achieved the feat of establishing the former as a subject for university research and education. In 1959 she founded Britain's first University Department of Speech. This was at King's College of the University of Durham , soon to become the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Born in Halifax in 1899, Muriel Morley came to her chosen field of speech therapy with a degree in Physics and Biology and a certificate in Education, and from a background of secondary school teaching which had been curtailed through ill-health. In 1932 she responded to an unusual advertisement. A Newcastle Plastic Surgeon had devised a new type of pharyngoplasty for cleft palate and was seeking an "educated woman"' who could assess the children's speech before and after surgery. The work fascinated her; she became an expert photographer within a month and read everything she could find on cleft palate and its management. The next five years were a turning point; the lessons she learnt were set down in her first book Cleft Palate and Speech, and she had discovered her profession.

In order to broaden her experience of the variety of speech and language disorders, she trained as a speech therapist by working with colleagues in Liverpool and London over the next few months, and gained the Diploma of the then British Society of Speech Therapists in 1938. By 1945 she was working full-time as a speech therapist in Newcastle's three hospitals, with a varied case-load that included a number of men who had become aphasic from war-time head injuries. At this time she became one of the founders of the College of Speech Therapists (later to become its President, and the editor of its academic journal).

One of her major research studies, with colleagues in Child Health, Neurology and Statistics, was of the speech and language of a sample of 847 children in Newcastle, recorded at ages 3, 4, 6 and 15. The results of the first three of these assessments were published in 1957 as Development and Disorders of Speech in Childhood.

In 1959 the Government and Opposition of the day decided to bring a number of disciplines, of which speech therapy was one, under a Bill for Professions Supplementary to Medicine. Dr Morley instantly saw the threat which this offered to the youthful profession. With representatives of the College of Speech Therapists, she called on the responsible minister and told him that speech therapy could not be described as supplementary to any other profession and that academic study in this field was vital for the service of people with speech and language disorders. A national referendum of speech therapists followed, the profession stood firm and, despite government anger, they were removed from the Bill.

Dr Morley travelled widely in the English-speaking world as a visiting professor, and was made an Honorary Member of the American Cleft Palate Association. More than any other experience, these visits established the twin pillars of her professional philosophy: language and speech must be studied and taught in universities, with studies of pathology based on a sound knowledge of normal behaviours, and academic excellence must be complemented by the highest standards of clinical work.

In 1980 she received the OBE in acknowledgement of her pioneering work in research and education in speech therapy. In an appreciation of her work in a 1984 commemoration of the 25th anniversary of her founding of the university department, her former colleague, Donald Court, Professor of Child Health, wrote:

"What fuelled and directed this remarkable woman? She was certainly impatient with the small mind and the myopic vision, and became restless, even stubborn, when she felt that important issues were being evaded. Can we explain her energy, tenacity, vision, openness to new ideas, love of learning? The answer lay in her unwavering belief in the value of her subject and an unyielding commitment to its practice at the highest level."

Ruth Lesser

Muriel Morley, born Halifax, 20 February 1899: educated at Halifax High School for Girls and Monkseaton High School: BSc in Physics and Biology Armstrong College, University of Durham, and Certificate in Education 1920; Diploma of the British Society of Speech Therapists 1938; D.Sc., King's College, University of Durham 1958; President of the College of Speech Therapists 1971; OBE 1980.

MURIEL ELIZABETH MORLEY DSc FCST (Hon): AN APPRECIATION

Muriel Morley comes from a Yorkshire family. Born in Halifax in 1899, she lived there until 1913 when her parents moved to Tyneside. She was educated, first at the Halifax High School for Girls and then at Monkseaton High School. In 1917 she entered Armstrong College, the Newcastle division of the University of Durham, and graduated in 1920 with a BSc in Physics and Biology. While studying for the degree, she obtained a Certificate in Education.

For the next ten years she taught physics to the fifth and sixth forms at the Church High School for Girls in Newcastle. At this stage, it looked as if she would fulfill W.H.Auden's prediction for women with her background "teaching science for life to progressive girls". This was too predictable for a woman of her temperament, and in 1930 she went to India. Captivated by the people and the culture this was one of the happiest times in her life. Unfortunately, she developed dysentery and after a year returned home. For the next eighteen months she remained unwell and uncertain about the future. She was rescued by doctors reaching the correct diagnosis, leading to appropriate treatment and returning health. An attempted return to teaching convinced her that this was not the way. In 1932 she responded to an unusual advertisement. William Wardill, a Newcastle Plastic Surgeon, had devised a new type of pharyngoplasty for cleft palate and was seeking "an educated woman", not an elocutionist, who would assess the children's speech before and after surgery. They proved compatible colleagues. The work fascinated her, she became an expert photographer inside the mouth and read everything she could find on cleft palate and its management. These five years were a turning point. The lessons were set down in her first book Cleft Palate and Speech and she had discovered her profession.

The variety of speech disorders referred to her increased and she knew she must train for the work. The professional development which followed has been described in the main text. Our concern is with the woman behind the achievements. Yet her professional commitment was so complete that sharp separation would be unreal.

She was primarily a clinician, yet living when she did she was inescapably involved in the professional development of the subject. In 1945 she was a founding fellow of the College of Speech Therapists, and between 1947 and 1963 served several three-year periods on the College Council. In 1971 she became the third President.

In 1959 the government and opposition of the day decided to bring a number of disciplines, of which speech therapy was one, under a Bill for Professions Supplementary to Medicine. Muriel Morley instantly saw the threat which this offered to the profession. With representatives of the College, she called on the responsible Minister and told him that speech therapy could not be described as supplementary to any other profession. A national referendum of speech therapists followed, the profession stood firm and, despite government anger, they were removed from the Bill. This threat to its integrity and independence was a serious threat to a young profession and had it not been removed the academic development of speech therapy would have been prevented, or long delayed.

Throughout her professional life, Muriel Morley was an omnivorous reader of books and journals, especially the American Journal of Speech Disorders to which she had subscribed since 1938. In 1966 she was invited to edit the College Journal. She was prepared, having felt for some time that it should move from a slim domestic publication to an international journal, welcoming overseas contributions and presenting the work of the profession to a wider public. Six years later when she was succeeded by Betty Byers Brown, the content had increased, the style improved and the circulation widened. A firm believer in the world responsibility of professions, she travelled widely: Australia, New Zealand, and between 1951 and 1970 five visits to the United States. On the last she visited nineteen universities and colleges where speech therapy was studied and taught, especially Michigan, Iowa, San Diego, Syracuse, Bloomington and Missoula. She began as a passing visitor, before the end she was an invited visiting professor. More than any other experience, these visits established the twin pillars of her professional philosophy: language and speech must be studied and taught in universities and academic excellence must be complemented by the highest standards of clinical work. In 1972 those principles were at the centre of the Quirk Committee's report. In 1981 she returned to her old department to share in the presentation of the prize which bears her name.

What fuelled and directed this remarkable woman? She was certainly impatient with the small mind and myopic vision, and became restless, even stubborn when she felt that important issues were being evaded. Can we explain her energy, tenacity, vision, openness to new ideas, love of learning? The answer lay in her unwavering belief in the value of her subject and an unyielding commitment to its practice at the highest level. Like Cromwell's soldiers, "She knew what she fought for and loved what she knew".

Donald Court

SOME OF MURIEL MORLEY'S PRINCIPAL PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

Morley M (1945) Cleft Palate and Speech, Edinburgh: C & D Livingstone (7th edition 1970)
Morley M (1957) The Development and Disorders of Speech and Childhood, London: Churchill Livingstone. (3rd edition 1972)

PAPERS

Morley M Court D and Miller H (1950) Childhood speech disorders and the family doctor. British Medical Journal 1 574-578
Morley M Miller H (1950) Discussion on speech defects in children. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 43 579-588
Morley M Court D and Miller H (1954) Developmental dysarthria. British Medical Journal 1 8-14
Morley M Court D Miller H and Garside R (1955) Delayed speech and developmental aphasia. British Medical Journal 2 463-467
Morley M Court D (1958) Medicine and speech therapy. Lancet 1 1169-1171
Morley M (1960) Developmental receptive-expressive aphasia. Speech Pathology and Therapy 3 64
Morley M (1973) Receptive/expressive developmental aphasia: a case study. British Journal of Disorders of Communication 8 47-53

Dr Morley was Editor of the British Journal of Disorders of Communication from 1966 (when it was first published under that name) to 1972. She was made an Honorary Member of the American Cleft-Palate Association. She was awarded the Honours of the College of Speech Therapists in 1979. In 1980 she received the OBE.