Professor Desmond Francis Gorman (Des)

Professor Des Gorman was born in Otahuhu on 11 October, 1953.  He attended Otahuhu and Fairburn Road Primary Schools, and Otahuhu Intermediate, before going onto Otahuhu College.   He was a member of Hobson House.

At Otahuhu College, Professor Gorman was a student in the A Form of the General Course for five years and a prefect.  In his final year, Professor Gorman was the dux (male), and won the senior school prizes in biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics.  Professor Gorman played rugby league and rugby; he was a very successful swimmer and won an Auckland Secondary Schools swimming title every year he was at Otahuhu College. 

Professor Gorman has Ngapuhi and European ancestry.  He graduated with bachelors degrees in science (BSc), and in medicine and surgery (MBChB), from The University of Auckland in 1975 and 1978 respectively, and went on to complete a doctorate in philosophy (PhD), in medicine (neurology), at The University of Sydney, while he was serving with the Royal Australian Navy.  During this time, Professor Gorman was the dux of the Royal Navy Submarine School Officers’ Course and was named the Royal Australian Navy Officer of the Year in 1984.  During his service in the Royal Australian Navy, he trained as a Submarine Officer and as a Clearance Diving Officer.

On returning to New Zealand, Professor Gorman was appointed the Director of Medical Services for the Royal New Zealand Navy (1989 to 1995), after which time he joined the staff of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at The University of Auckland.  During his academic career, Professor Gorman has had 222 papers published internationally and has made 36 keynote presentations to international conferences.

Professor Gorman is currently the Head of the University of Auckland’s School of Medicine, becoming the first graduate of the school to hold this position.  He has a personal professorial chair in medicine.  His doctorate in medicine (MD) was conferred by the University of Auckland on the basis of research into brain injuries.  He has identified the ways in which the brain “protects” itself and this is now being translated into ways in which brain injured patients can be better managed.

Professor Gorman’s clinical, research, and teaching interests include medical education, medical sociology, indigenous health, neurology, toxicology and occupational medicine.  He has a special interest in the health of divers and mariners.