Walter_Thomas_James_Morgan

Walter Thomas James Morgan
Walter Thomas James Morgan CBE FRS (5 October

1900 – 10 February 2003) was a British biochemist Walter Thomas James Morgan
noted for his work on the immunochemistry of Born 5 October 1900
antigens[2] and described as 'one of the pioneers of Ilford, Essex, England, United
immunochemistry'.[1] Kingdom
Died 10 February 2003 (aged 102)
Nationality British
Early life Alma mater University of London
Queen Mary University of London
He was born in Ilford to Walter Morgan, a solicitor's
(BSc)
clerk at the Royal Courts of Justice and his wife Anne.
University of East London (MSc)
He was barred from attending primary school for a
The Lister Institute for Preventive
year after a ringworm infection on his head; the
Medicine (PhD)[1]
treatment, irradiation, caused hair to fall out, and his
parents refused to sign the waiver absolving the health Awards Royal Medal (1968)
authority from responsibility should the hair not grow Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig
back.[1] Due to this the family moved house to Little Darmstaedter Prize (1968)
Ilford, where after leaving the local primary school he Scientific career
attended Raine's Foundation School, where he became Fields Biochemistry
interested in mechanical engineering. His growing
Institutions The Lister Institute for Preventive
interest in chemistry led him to start his own laboratory
Medicine
in a garden shed using chemicals bought from a
Swiss Federal Institute of
supplier in London, with his main area of focus being
Technology Zürich
the creation of "dyes and explosive compounds". The
University of London
start of World War I in 1914 led to a drop in teaching
standards as the teachers were drafted into the armed
forces, and as a result he left school in 1916 to work for the Gas Light and Coke Company, which he left
to work at a government-operated factory in Greenwich as he found the atmosphere at the GLCC
unpleasant.[1]
Aware that he would be drafted into the military on his 18th birthday, Morgan instead joined early so that
he could pick which branch to serve in.[1] He picked the Royal Navy, and due to his experience working
with chemicals he was appointed to HMS President, producing chemicals and equipment for the navy,
including smoke screen floats.
Academia
He was demobilised in 1919 and offered a government grant to study at university, but his demobilisation
came too late in the year for him to start his chemistry degree then. Instead he began his studies in 1920 at
East London College. The degree examinations at the time were held after the summer holiday rather
than before, so to help with his family's dire financial situation (his father had died in 1918, leaving his
mother financially destitute[1]) he again worked for the Gas Light and Coke Company as a junior
chemist, where he was tasked with finding a better way to extract natural gas from coke than the process
used at the time. He demonstrated the process at the Cantor Lecture of the Royal Society of Arts, and
after an uninspiring start (the control sample initially worked just as well as the one using his process) his
work turned out to be a success.[1]
After the discovery of Insulin in 1922 Morgan became interested in medicinal chemistry, and he applied
to West Ham Municipal College, where he studied for his Master of Science part-time while still working
for the Gas Light and Coke Company. He finished his degree in 1925, and published his first paper in the
Journal of the Chemical Society in 1926. One of his tutors while he was studying for his MSc was Arthur
Harden, who impressed with his work advised Morgan to apply to The Lister Institute for Preventive
Medicine for a Grocer's Company Research Student grant. He applied even though the pay (£250 a year)
was less than that he was getting as a junior chemist, and was accepted by Charles Martin, the Institute
director at the time. Morgan remained working there for over 50 years. Before taking up his position he
did a variety of evening classes, including courses at the Case Technical Institute on the subjects of
physiology and yeast microbiology and a course on biochemistry at Chelsea Polytechnic. While attending
lectures at University College London he met Glen Anrep, who he worked for as an unpaid volunteer,
thus getting the physiology qualification he needed to apply for a PhD.
Work at the Lister Institute

He initially worked with Dr Robert Robison identifying the structure of fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase
discovered by Arthur Harden and William John Young. He succeeded in doing this, and studies on esters
made up a large chunk of his PhD thesis. In 1925 he attended a course on organic microanalysis at the
University of Graz on the recommendation of Harden. He was awarded his PhD in 1927 and the Beit
Memorial Research Fellowship, which allowed him to continue his research on sugars. He visited Graz
repeatedly in later years, and saw its transformation from the relative happiness of the 1920s to the
oppressive regime in the 1930s, at one point being questioned by a Nazi patrol.
In 1928 he was appointed as a biochemist at the institute's Serum and Vaccine Department north of
London, where in 1930 he successfully immunised a horse against Poliomyelitis. He attended the 1929
International Physiological Congress in Boston where he met several distinguished scientists including
Walter Goebel and Michael Heidelberger, both of whom became close friends. In 1936 he was awarded
the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, allowing him to study at the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology Zürich under Tadeus Reichstein, who he also became friends with. He returned to England in
1938 to take up a position as Reader of Biochemistry at the Lister Institute, continuing to work on
bacterial antigens before the outbreak of World War II forced him to stop his research due to the
perceived risk of large bacterial cultures possibly being exposed to the atmosphere by bombing.
Expecting casualties in the war he instead focused his attention on the structure of blood antigens with
Winifred Watkins,[3] and was one of the first to insist on human-only individual samples, rather than
pooled or animal samples.[1] It took until 1965 before they worked out the complete chemical structure of
A and B-type blood.[1]
He retired from the Biochemistry department in 1968, staying as a guest researcher until 1972 when due
to the poor state of the Institute he was asked to become the director again, which he did until 1975 when
the institute was forced to close.[1] From then until 1989 he worked in an honorary position at the MRC
Clinical Research Centre.
Awards
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1949, and from 1956 to 1960 he served as a member of the
Scientific Advisory Council. He also served on the Royal Society Council until 1958, and was elected its
vice president in 1961, a position he held until 1964. In 1959 he was made a CBE and delivered the Royal
Society's Croonian Lecture.[1] In 1968 he was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society 'In
recognition of his outstanding contributions to knowledge of the chemistry of blood-group substances,
with special reference to genetical as well as immunological considerations'.
Personal life
He married Dorothy Irene Price (died 1993) on 25 April 1930, with whom he had two daughters and a
son.[1]
References
1. Watkins, W. M.; Bagshawe, K. D. (2005). "Walter Thomas James Morgan CBE. 5 October
1900 – 10 February 2003: Elected F.R.S. 1949" (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsbm.2005.001
8). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 51: 291–302.
doi:10.1098/rsbm.2005.0018 (https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frsbm.2005.0018).
2. "Professor Walter Morgan – Obituaries, News -The Independent" (https://www.independent.
co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-walter-morgan-730074.html). London. 25 February 2003.
Retrieved 2 December 2008.
3. Wu, Albert M (2011). The Molecular Immunology of Complex Carbohydrates (https://books.g
oogle.com/books?id=7RfRGE-vWnQC&q=Winifred+Watkins+london). p. 809.
ISBN 9781441978769.
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Walter Thomas James Morgan

Walter Thomas James Morgan CBE FRS (5 October

Work at the Lister Institute

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