Sir Charles Dodds (1899-1973) was the first RCP president to be elected from a laboratory background rather than a clinical one.  He was elected in 1962 and served until 1966. Dodds’s personal papers in the RCP archives demonstrate his range of interests and achievements in the field of endocrinology. The collection includes these small notebooks showing his daily appointments over almost 50 years, from 1934 to 1973.

The diaries for 1962 to 1966 - the years of Dodds’s presidency - list a lot of meetings at the RCP and at other prominent medical institutions. They also mention more personal aspects of his life, including fairly frequent private lunch and dinner appointments.

Dodds was one of the pioneers in the discovery and synthesis of the synthetic hormone stilboestrol and the first director of the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry. He ran this institute for 40 years and was a major contributor to its success. Under his leadership this institution made great discoveries in the fields of immunopathology, steroid chemistry and cytochemistry.

Dodds liked to live well and entertain his many friends. His extensive knowledge of good food, and good wine, was widely recognised. He was the custodian of the wine cellar of the Society of Apothecaries for 23 years.

The RCP’s portrait of Dodds can be seen online via the ArtUK It shows him holding a sheet displaying a chemical formula, to demonstrate his career and achievements in biochemistry.  You can find out more about Dodds’ career in his entry in Munk’s Roll.

Pamela Ford, Archivist.

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