2003 INDUCTEE William Feindel, MDCM PhD Brain & Mind

William Feindel inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

London, Ontario

Feindel became the first Director of the Brain Imaging Centre

He served in this role for four years during which time he raised the profile of Canadian brain imagining research.

The Montreal Neurological Institute installed Canada’s first CT scanner

Feindel also secured funding and space for Canada’s first CAT and MRI units.

Feindel became the Director of the Montreal Neurological Institute

He remained in this post until 1984. Under his leadership, the MNI doubled in size with the construction of the Penfield Pavilion in 1978 and the Webster Pavilion in 1984.

William Feindel wrote extensively on topics of medical history

In particular, he studied the work of Thomas Willis, the seventeenth-century British neurological pioneer who coined the term ‘neurology.' In 1964, Feindel published a facsimile in English of Willis’ 1664 treatise “Anatomy of the Brain and Nerves.”

After four years away, Feindel again returned to Montreal

In 1959, he was appointed the first William Cone Professor of Neurosurgery. Three years later, he became neurosurgeon-in-chief at the Montreal Neurological Institute.

Dr. Feindel became the first Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Saskatoon

Upon his return from England, Feindel joined McGill at the Montreal Neurological Institute. Soon, however, Feindel was called to Saskatoon to help the University of Saskatchewan build its own neurological unit.

Following his war work, Feindel returned to McGill University

He completed medical school in 1945 and then returned to Oxford, where he once held a Rhodes scholarship, to complete a PhD in brain anatomy. He also pursued further training in neurosurgery and neurology at both Oxford and the National Hospital for Neurological Diseases in London.

After receiving his master’s degree in physiology at McGill University, William Feindel made a contribution to Canada’s war effort

He worked as a researcher for the Naval Committee of the National Research Council of Canada, along with Dr. Wilder Penfield, where they developed advanced treatment for war injuries on the brain and nerves.