John Ryle

John Ryle was Regius Professor of Physic [not Physics; "Physic" here is an archaic term for Medicine] at Cambridge University. He is a brother of the Oxford philosopher Gilbert Ryle. His wife was Miriam Ryle. Ryle was politically active at Cambridge, helping Jewish scholars emigrate from Germany and Austria before World War II. During World War II, he was working at Guy's Hospital to help them prepare for the Blitz.

In 1943 John Ryle was appointed chair of the newly created Institute of Social Medicine at Oxford, initiating the academic discipline of Social Medicine (Epidemiology).