Dr Thomas D Whittet CBE, BSc, FPS, DBA FRIC (1915-1987)
Pharmacy 1930’s
Thomas Whittet successfully passed both the Chemist & Druggist and the Pharmaceutical Chemist examinations whilst a student at the School in 1930s and remained a dedicated supporter.
He studied at University College London before working as a lecturer at Charing Cross Hospital during the Second World War. He then took on a role at University College Hospital, before moving to the Ministry of Health.
He became Chief Pharmacist to the Ministry of Health (later the Department of Health and Social Security) in 1967 until his retirement in 1978. He was also a prolific medical historian, with publications including The Apothecaries in the Great Plague of London of 1665.
He served as President of the History of Medicine Society of the Royal Society of Medicine from 1981-83, and as Master of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in 1982-83. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Sunderland Polytechnic in 1980 and was also awarded honorary doctorates from Bath and Aston Universities. He was given the freedom of Chelsea Physic Garden in 1984 and awarded Gold Medals by the Guild of Public Pharmacists, and the Pharmaceutical Society. He was appointed CBE in 1977.