Sir Peter Mansfield - MRI Innovator


Sir Peter Mansfield was born October 9, 1933, in Nottingham, England. He attended Cord Street Primary and William Penn School. At 15, he dropped out of school and worked in a printing company after which he joined the army.

Mansfield then went to night school and completed his A level examinations. He attended Queen Mary College, University of London, where he received a BS in Physics in 1959 and a PhD in Physics in 1962.

From 1962 until 1964, Mansfield was a Research Associate in the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois.

In 1964, Mansfield returned to the United Kingdom to become a Lecturer in the Department of Physics at the University of Nottingham. He became a Senior Lecturer in 1968, and a Professor in 1979.

Mansfield shared the 2003 Nobel Prize in Medicine, with Paul C Lauterbur of the University of Illinois, for his work in magnetic resonance imaging. Mansfield developed a mathematical model to analyze signals from within the human body in response to a strong magnetic field, as well as a method to achieve very fast imaging. This led to the MRI technique widely used in medicine today.

The Magnetic Resonance Centre at the University of Nottingham was founded in 1991 and has been renamed the Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre.

Mansfield has published over 245 articles, holds several patents, and has written several books in his field.

Mansfield is married to Jean Mansfield. They have two daughters. He has a license to pilot both airplanes and helicopters.

Honors and Awards

  • Gold Medal of the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 1983
  • Royal Society Wellcome Foundation Gold Medal and Prize, 1984
  • Fellow, Queen Mary College, London University, 1986
  • Fellow, Royal Society, 1987
  • President of Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 1987-1988
  • Duddell Prize and Medal by the Institute of Physics, 1988
  • Silvanus Thompson Medal by the British Institute of Radiology, 1988
  • Antoine Béclère Medal from the International Society of Radiology and the Antoine Béclère Institute in Paris, 1989
  • Joint Award of the Royal Society Mullard Medal and Prize, 1990
  • Jointly with P. Lauterbur the International Society of Magnetic Resonance (ISMAR), 1992
  • Knighthood, 1993
  • Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Radiology, 1993
  • Honorary Membership, British Institute of Radiology, 1993
  • Barclay Medal by the British Journal of Radiology, 1993
  • First Silver Plaque of the European Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology, 1993
  • Honorary Member, Society of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 1994
  • Fellow, Society of Magnetic Resonance, 1994
  • Garmisch-Partenkirchen Prize for MRI, 1995
  • Gold Medal of the European Congress of Radiology and the European Association of Radiology, 1995
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