Sir Michael Llewellyn Rutter. 15 August 1933—23 October 2021

Abstract

Sir Michael Rutter was the first professor of Child Psychiatry in the UK, and is widely credited with establishing child psychiatry as an academic discipline. Across five decades he transformed the field, challenging accepted thinking, clarifying concepts, devising methodologies, and undertaking ground-breaking and foundational research. Every part of the field bears the stamp of his endeavours, whether via advances in classification, the design of assessment instruments, or the application of innovative designs. He undertook the first systematic epidemiological studies of child mental health in the UK, made extensive studies of both genetic and environmental risks for child psychopathology, clarified conceptualizations of risk and protective factors and resilience, proposed the influential developmental psychopathology paradigm, and was an acknowledged world leader in the study of autism. He trained many of the next generation of academic child psychiatrists, who extended his influence across the globe. Much of his research impacted policy, and he was widely revered, both nationally and internationally, for his seminal contributions to advancing understanding of both child development and child mental health.