Cullis , Winifred Clara , 1875-1956 , physiologist

Winifred Cullis (1875-1956) was born in Gloucester and educated at King Edward VI School, Birmingham and Newnham College, Cambridge where she studied Natural Sciences. In 1901 she became a demonstrator of physiology at the London School of Medicine for Women (Royal Free Hospital), becoming head of the department in 1912. In 1919 she was made Professor of Physiology at the University of London and as such was the first woman to hold a professorial chair at a medical school. A committed feminist, Cullis toured the world giving public lectures. During the First World War she was sent by the Colonial Office to lecture to troops in Gibraltar and Malta, and in the Second World War she lectured in the Far East, the Middle East and the USA on the subject of British women's war work. Cullis was president of both the British Federation of University Women (1925-1929) and the International Federation of University Women (1929-1932). During her retirement she continued to work for the Royal Free Hospital through her committee-work and as a governor. She died in 1956.