Motivational Monday: Neurologist & Horticultural Historian

It is not often that our nonagenarian alumnae fly across the Atlantic to come back and visit us…

But former pupil, Dr Judith Taylor, is no normal ninety-year-old! We were thrilled to welcome her back and hear more about her school days and life beyond. At her birthday concert, in 2024, she described three distinct periods of her life:

1. Her first thirty years were establishing who she was. Judith’s time at South Hampstead, during and after the war, were profoundly influential. She describes herself as a rather serious student – totally focused on her studies and in fierce competition with her contemporary Dorothy Williams to be top of the class. There are numerous references to Judith winning academic year prizes in the magazines of the time and she is listed as a scholar on the honours boards in the atrium. Despite her determination to study medicine and focus on the sciences, she was especially grateful to her English Teacher: “Miss Barber’s insistence on properly balanced phrases and her abhorrence of lazily repeated words have stayed with me. Writing has defined my adult life.”
2. The next thirty years focused on implementation. Having graduated in Medicine from Somerville College, Oxford, Judith moved to the United States in 1959 and became a board-certified neurologist, practising neurology in New York. She subsequently held academic appointments as a clinical instructor and associate professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Following more than three decades of practice in Westchester County, New York, she transitioned into medical administration, serving as the Chief Medical Officer for New York City and as Medical Director for two major insurance companies until her retirement in 1994.
3. Her third tricennium has been for her and her family. After relocating to Tiburon, California, with her husband Irvin, Taylor reinvented herself as a writer, drawing on her lifelong interests in botany, gardening, and history to author seven books that explore overlooked aspects of horticulture, such as the migrations of plants, the roles of breeders and nurserymen, and women’s contributions to the field. She continues to write and has a new book on tulips awaiting publication.

Her memories of school are vivid and happy ones and she made great friends who she has kept in touch with over the years: “I was blessed to have the most amazing set of teachers at South Hampstead. They maintained a high degree of rigour which has stood me in good stead throughout my career – I am forever grateful to them.” 

Her advice to the next generation of South Hampstead pupils is simple: pay close attention to your teachers and lessons and remember the adage that no knowledge is ever wasted.