OBITUARY: Professor Michael White

Michael White was a visionary thinker and an inspired teacher, who was passionate about medical standards and patient care. At Hull University, he led innovative and nationally acclaimed research into the tissue culture of tumours, primarily of the pituitary gland and breast. He was also the principal influence in the development of a new diabetes centre at the university.

White was educated at the City of London School for Boys, where he was a keen sports player, particularly of cricket, which became one of the consuming passions of his life. He studied Classics, but instead opted for a career in medicine, and graduated in 1972 from St Bartholomew's Medical School, in London, with First Class honours.

White's first house officer's post at Bart's, under Professor Michael Besser, inspired him to follow a career in academic endocrinology. After working as a research fellow at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, he moved to Newcastle upon Tyne in 1982 as university lecturer in medicine. His work in London and Newcastle formed the basis for his MD thesis on the tissue culture of pituitary tumours. In addition to clinical duties on the Endocrine Unit at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, White pursued an active research programme; he funded and supervised a group of scientists investigating the cellular basis of pituitary disease.

In 1988, White was appointed consultant physician and endocrinologist at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, and clinical lecturer at the University Department of Medicine. Here, he not only continued his research, but also greatly developed the existing diabetic and endocrine services.

White's drive and foresight were crucial to the development of the new Postgraduate Medical School at Hull University, where he was appointed to the foundation Chair of Medicine in 1992. He also set up the Medical Research Laboratory at Hull, where his pioneering research into the tissue culture of tumours was carried out.

Michael White's vitality, generosity and warmth were immediately apparent to all those who met him. He brought the same passion and commitment to his many and eclectic interests outside the field of medicine, whether it was politics, the arts, cricket, or good food and wines. These, combined with his boyish sense of fun, made him stimulating and engaging company. He took very seriously his family responsibilities, which were characterised by a fierce and protective love.

Geoffrey Gill

Michael Christopher White, endocrinologist: born Nairobi 19 June 1948; University Lecturer in Medicine, Newcastle upon Tyne University 1982-88; Consultant Physician and Endocrinologist, Royal Liverpool Hospital, and Clinical Lecturer, Liverpool University 1988-92; Professor of Medicine, Hull University 1992-95; married 1974 Elizabeth Rogerson (two daughters); died Wakefield 13 August 1995.