LAUSR

Martin Munro Black was born in March 1940 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. He graduated inMedicine at the University of Durham in 1963 and later acquired his higher Doctor of Medicine Degree in 1970 at the University of Newcastle. He trained in dermatology in Newcastle before moving in 1968 to the St John’s Institute of Dermatology in London where he developed a special interest in dermatopathology and experimental pathology. In 1972–1973, he was awarded a Fulbright Travelling Scholarship to study experimental pathology at UCSF (University of California San Francisco). In 1974, Martin Black was appointed Consultant Dermatologist at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, before later becoming Professor of Dermatological Immunopathology and Chairman of the Academic Department of Dermatopathology at St John’s Institute of Dermatology (1990–2005). As director of the immunofluorescence laboratory (1975– 2005), he developed this diagnostic laboratory into the largest of its type in the world. His main areas of interest and publications were in the field of dermatopathology, autoimmune bullous disease and pregnancy dermatoses. He served as Honorary Secretary of the British Association of Dermatologists from 1985 to 1990 before becoming President in 1997–1998. He was founder editor of Clinical and Experimental Dermatology in 1976. Martin Black became the UK representative on the EADV Board of Directors (1996–2000) before being elected as President (2000–2002) and oversaw the move into its first office in Brussels. During his presidency, Martin Black founded the EADV News (2001). He also served as chairman of the EADV Nominating Committee (2002–2005) before becoming Congress President for the 14th EADV Congress in London in 2005. Martin Black has received a number of awards: the Sir Archibald Gray Gold Medal (British Association of Dermatologists, 2004), Certificate of Appreciation awarded by the International League of Dermatological Societies (2003), Pro Meritus award by the European Dermatology Forum (2006), Distinguished Service Award by the EADV (2007), Doctor Honoris Causa by the Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary in 2003, and honorary membership of the American Academy of Dermatology (2011).