Joseph Godwin Greenfield

Joseph Godwin Greenfield, (24 May 1884 – 2 March 1958) was an early neuropathologist. He created, with 28 founding members, the neuropathological club, which would eventually become the British Neuropathological Society. Greenfield served as pathologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square.

Early life Godwin Greenfield was born in Edinburgh, Scotland to William S. Greenfield, who was chair of pathology and clinical medicine at the University of Edinburgh. Godwin Greenfield began his early education at the Edinburgh Academy before becoming a boarder at the Merchiston Castle School.

Career Greenfield served as house physician under Alexander Bruce and helped arrange lectures for Byrom Bramwell during his first year of residency at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. He later served as house physician at East London Hospital for Children and at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen Square, London.

During his first few years as pathologist, he also volunteered for a commission from the Royal Army Medical Corps and was deployed in France during World War I, notably serving during the Great Retreat from Mons.

Greenfield played an important role in defining neuropathology as a distinct discipline, including lecturing to the Royal College of physicians on 'the pathology of the neuron' in 1939. In 1950, Greenfield and 28 of his colleagues started a 'neuropathological club' to organize discussion of difficult cases and help unify clinical and experimental aspects of the field. This club eventually became the British Neuropathological Society. He organized and lectured at the First International Congress of Neuropathologists in 1952 and presided the Second International Congress of Neuropathologists in 1955.

Godwin Greenfield retired from the National Hospital staff in 1949, but continued research and lecturing and frequently visited the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness in Bethesda, Maryland. Greenfield died of a heart attack in 1958 following a farewell dinner in Bethesda. His text, Greenfield's Neuropathology, was published posthumously later that year and became an important reference in the field and continues to be developed as a standard reference.