Sir John Tooke to move on

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, Professor Steve Smith, said: ‘Sir John has been a hugely valuable member of staff of the University of Exeter and has been the driving force behind the development of medical and dental education on the South West Peninsula. We wish him every success in his new role.’

Professor Sir John Tooke was a Wellcome Trust Senior Lecturer in Medicine and Physiology and Honorary Consultant Physician at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School before moving to Exeter in 1987.

Until 1 November 2000 he was Consultant Physician with interests in diabetes, endocrinology and vascular medicine at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital NHS Trust, and Professor of Vascular Medicine at Exeter University.

He is the inaugural Dean of the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry which under his leadership has already graduated two cohorts of doctors, has established an international reputation for world leading medical research and has opened the first new dental school in the UK for 40 years.

Sir John said ‘As I am sure you can appreciate, it has taken a special opportunity to draw me away from Peninsula. I am confident I will be leaving the College in a very strong position, given the status of its undergraduate programmes, an exciting new Graduate School, our strong performance in the recent national Research Assessment Exercise, and above all the quality and commitment of our staff’.

Sir John will be leaving the College at the end of November this year.