Francis Gillingham

Francis John Gillingham (1916 to 2010) was a British neurosurgeon, born in Dorchester, Dorset. He studied medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, served in the Royal Army Medical Corps with the Eighth Army in North Africa and Italy, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1945 for his services in Italy. In 1950 he moved to Edinburgh as consultant neurosurgeon and director of the department of surgical neurology, and in 1963 he succeeded Norman Dott as professor of surgical neurology at the University of Edinburgh. He was regarded as a pioneer of stereotactic surgery and is credited with introducing subspecialty fellowships into British neurosurgical training. He served as president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh from 1980 and campaigned for compulsory car seatbelts.