David Kerslake made major contributions to the field of human thermal physiology. Medically qualified in 1946, he conducted his PhD research during RAF National Service at the Institute of Aviation Medicine (IAM). Appointed Officer in Charge of the IAM Climatic Section (1950), he was soon involved in developing the Institute’s climatic research facility. He investigated the physiological effects of thermal stresses on service personnel, publishing many papers in The Journal of Physiology and, later, a Monograph of The Physiological Society, The Stress of Hot Environments (1972). He was awarded an OBE (1962) and the Vernon Prize of the National Institute of Industrial Psychology (1966). Eschewing further promotion, he remained IAM Deputy Chief Scientific Officer until his retirement in 1978.

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