George Wallace Fenton

George Fenton was born in Londonderry on 30 July 1931 and brought up in Londonderry and Ballymena in County Antrim. He was educated at the Ballymena Academy, where he excelled. George had hoped to become a historian, an interest that he maintained throughout his life, but his mother was very keen that he and his younger brother, Stanley, should go into medicine. Both the boys joined the medical faculty at Queen's University, Belfast, and did extremely well. George obtained undergraduate prizes in bacteriology and pharmacology, and even at that young age demonstrated the intelligence, drive and determination that were to take him to the top of his profession. He qualified in 1954, and showed an early interest in neurology and psychiatry, studying in Belfast and London. He obtained his DPM in 1957, his MRCP from Edinburgh in 1960, with neurology as his special subject, and his MRCP from London in 1963. He continued his academic training at the Institute of Psychiatry and the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, where he came under the influence of Professor Sir Dennis Hill, and developed an interest in the, then, young science of electroencephalography. In 1967 he was appointed Consultant Psychiatrist to Dennis Hill's Professorial Unit at the Maudsley Hospital, and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry.

The following year he was appointed a consultant clinical neurophysiologist to the Maudsley Hospital, and Honorary Consultant Neurophysiologist in Research at the EEG Department at Broadmoor Special Hospital. He remained a clinician in this department for more than 30 years, until his death, and it was this contact that awakened George's interest in forensic psychiatry, and stimulated him to write a number of key papers on the relationship between violence, mental illness and neurophysiology.

In 1969 he became consultant neuropsychiatrist in charge of the Epilepsy Unit at the Maudsley Hospital. He obtained a grant from the Department of Health to start Windsor House, a non-medical hostel for patients with epilepsy, then an innovation. His interest in neurophysiology continued and together with Maurice Driver he was involved in expanding the neurophysiology department into a modern powerful force. This was a very creative time in George's career. He wrote a number of papers on epilepsy and psychiatry that still provide the gold standard for young trainees. His academic and research interests were broad, ranging from the neurophysiology of sleep, through violent behaviour and the law, to the psychiatric morbidity of epilepsy and its treatment, and evoked potential studies in mental illness.

As George's academic stature continued to grow, it was no surprise when in 1975 he was offered the Chair of Mental Health at Queen's University Belfast and he was able to return to his beloved Northern Ireland. Professionally, his time in Ireland was quite outstanding. Among his achievements were the reorganisation of the training course for psychiatric registrars and also the establishment of a very close relationship with his psychiatric colleagues in the Irish Republic.

George's early experience of the religious conflict in Northern Ireland had made him reject all organised religion and it saddened him that he could see no easy answer to the sectarian violence and division. After a few years he realised that he was not entirely happy in Northern Ireland, at least partly because of the view that some of his colleagues held of the province: friends and colleagues from other parts of the UK were reluctant to come and take part in courses because of the dangers they perceived, and professionally he was becoming increasingly isolated. He now looked towards the mainland for a chair and in 1983 accepted the Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Dundee, and the post of consultant psychiatrist to the Tayside Health Board. Here he again built up a strong academic psychiatric unit with excellent teaching and research programmes, and obtained well over £350 000 in research grants. His interests included dementia, learning disability in epilepsy, schizophrenia, neurosurgery for psychiatric disorder, Alzheimer's disease, cognitive—behavioural therapy, addiction and primary care psychopharmacology. During his life he published well over 300 major academic papers.

George was heavily involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education. His programme for medical students was particularly innovative and far-sighted and incorporated one of George's main concerns, that in order for medical students to become humane doctors, they should be taught to understand and deal with their patients' emotional distress.

George was one of the Founder MRCPsych in 1971. He was made FRCP, Edinburgh, in 1974 and FRCPsych in 1976. In 1992 he was made FRCP. He served on a number of committees of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and was a Membership Examiner (1981-1986), a member of the Examinations Sub-Committee (1985-1991), a member of the Fellowship Sub-Committee (1985-1991), a member of the Court of Electors (1985-1991), a member of the Advisory Committee for Medical Establishments (1990-1994) and a member of Council (1993-1997). He served as Deputy Regional Adviser, Northern Ireland region, and was Adviser to and a member of Northern Ireland Council for Postgraduate Medical Education from 1978-1983. From 1987-1992 he was the College Regional Adviser for the Eastern region of Scotland, Chairman of the Distinction Awards Committee from 1991 to 1992 and Senior Regional Adviser from 1993 to 1996. He was a member of the Regional Postgraduate Medical Committee (1987-1992) and he was Chairman of the Scottish Division of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. In 1990 he became President of the Psychiatric Section of the Royal Society of Medicine in London, and was a member of Council from 1987 to 1992.

Outside medicine his interests were wide and varied. In his youth he was a keen member of the Boy Scout movement and gained the King's Scout award. At University he was a rowing blue, and his interest in rowing, and later in sailing, continued for the rest of his life. He had many sporting interests, though perhaps his greatest passion was cricket. He was at heart a committed socialist, who took a great interest in politics both at home and abroad. A renowned and sought after speaker at international meetings, he rarely missed an opportunity to travel. George was an avid reader, and extremely well-read. His appreciation of music was diverse, and he enjoyed Scottish pipe bands, Gaelic vocal and instrumental performances, classical music and opera; he also greatly admired the talent and virtuosity of his diva, Cleo Laine.

Throughout George's successful academic career he remained at heart a clinician. His main characteristics were his humanity, his warmth and his care for the students, patients and staff with whom he came in contact. He believed in the need for people from all walks of life to reach their potential and was very generous with his time in giving them advice and constant encouragement. He was a wonderful friend, who always had time to listen. He was invariably kind, courteous and gentle, and it was these qualities that endeared him to all who met him. He leaves a widow, Nini, a son, Mark, by an earlier marriage to Sylvia Hepton, a stepson Bruce and a stepdaughter Emma and his brother Stanley.