My husband, Don Lorimer, who has died aged 85, was an influential figure in podiatry who worked to attain recognition for the profession and to improve its educational standards.
He was head of the Durham School of Podiatric Medicine when the first UK-validated full-time degree (in 1989) and master’s programmes (1995) were established. Both programmes developed the now-accepted model for degree-level podiatric education in that they were delivered through a partnership between an educational institution and the NHS.
He also led the development of a core curriculum that became the basis of all UK undergraduate training, and coordinated the successful Erasmus/Socrates programme of student exchanges designed to develop the Europeanisation of pre-registration podiatry programmes in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands.
In addition, Don was the long-term editor of Neale’s Common Foot Disorders, a book much used both by students and practitioners, and was the UK and executive editor of the journal The Foot.
Born in Dunfermline, Fife, to William, a railway clerk, and Jane (nee Anderson), a housewife, Don went to Dunfermline high school before doing his national service and then studying at the Edinburgh Foot Clinic (now the Edinburgh School of Podiatric Medicine) and graduating in 1956.
His first job was as an assistant in a private chiropody practice in Sale, Cheshire, before, in 1958, he set up on his own in Richmond, Yorkshire, eventually moving to Barnard Castle in County Durham. In 1979, having been a part-time lecturer for a number of years at what is now the Durham School of Podiatric Medicine, he took on a full-time role there as senior lecturer before promotion to be its head in 1982, a post he held until 1996.
Don also served on the council of the Society of Chiropodists for 40 years and was its chair during the 1990s. We met first in 1984, when I was elected to the council, and we married in 2006. Deeply aware of the importance of professional history, Don spent a great deal of time preserving the Society of Chiropodists’ collection of antiquarian and historical books, and also set up a cataloguing system, later becoming honorary curator of the archives. Outside work he was interested in railway history.
Don had a quick sense of humour and was an amusing raconteur. A kind family man who was always keen to help others, nothing was ever too much trouble for him.
He is survived by me, by his three sons, Angus, Malcolm and Duncan, from his previous marriage to Eileen (nee Anderson), which ended in divorce, and by my two daughters from a previous marriage, Katherine and Jennifer, to whom he was a wonderful stepfather.
