Thomas McKeown (physician)

Thomas McKeown
Born	Thomas McKeown 2 November 1912 Portadown, Northern Ireland
Died	13 June 1988 Birmingham, England, UK
Fields	Social medicine, Demography, Public Health, History of Medicine
Institutions	University of Birmingham (1945-1988)
Alma mater	University of British Columbia, Vancouver; McGill University, Montreal; Oxford University, UK
Known for	McKeown's thesis: The growth of population can be attributed to a decline in mortality from infectious diseases, primarily thanks to better nutrition, later also to better hygiene, and only marginally and late to medicine.
Notable awards	1976 Rock Carling Fellowship of the Nuffield Trust 1981 Honorary Doctorate of McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Spouse	Esmé Joan Widdowson, son Michael, daughter Susanne

1976 Rock Carling Fellowship of the Nuffield Trust

Thomas McKeown (1912–1988) was a British physician, epidemiologist and historian of medicine. Largely based on demographic data from England and Wales, McKeown argued that the population growth since the late eighteenth century was due to improving economic conditions, i.e. better nutrition, rather than to better hygiene, public health measures and improved medicine . This became known as the "McKeown thesis".

McKeown was born in Portadown, Northern Ireland and then moved to Vancouver, Canada with his parents. His parents were William McKeown and Mathilda (Duff) McKeown.

McKeown graduated in physiology at the University of British Columbia (1932) and obtained his first doctorate at McGill University (1935) before returning across the Atlantic to study as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University where he gained his DPhil in 1938. During wartime, he studied medicine at London University where he obtained a Bachelor in Surgery in 1942. From 1945 until his retirement in 1977, he was professor of social medicine at the University of Birmingham. There he also did his MD graduation in 1947. He is also known for his work in geriatrics and maternal-fetal medicine.

He was a consultant for the World Health Organization, Josiah Macy Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, and Rockefeller Foundation.

He died in 1988, and was survived by his wife Esmé and their son and daughter.

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