Biography of John MacVicar

John MacVicar was born in Southend, Argyll to Angus John MacVicar, a Presbyterian minister in the Church of Scotland. He is the brother of fellow Glasgow alumni and prolific author Angus MacVicar. Receiving his early education at Campeltown Grammar School, MacVicar was a highly capable student and graduated dux.

In 1945 MacVicar enrolled at the University to study for a medical degree. After graduation he undertook two years of national service in Singapore before returning to Glasgow to work under Ian Donald, the Regius Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Donald’s research interest lay in the possibilities of adapting radar and sonar technology for medical diagnosis and MacVicar undertook experiments exploring this new discipline known as ultrasound. In 1958 he co-authored a landmark paper with Donald and the engineer Tom Brown which appeared in the Lancet, entitled ‘Investigations of abdominal masses by pulsed ultrasound’.

By 1965 MacVicar was a senior lecturer at Queen Mother’s Hospital in Glasgow. He was later seconded to Nairobia, Kenya to establish a department of obstetrics and gynaecology in the newly founded faculty of medicine of the University of East Africa. In 1974 he was appointed foundation professor in Leicester Medical School where he remained until his retirement in 1992. MacVicar continued to live in Leicester until his death in 2011.

Summary

John MacVicar
Born 6 November 1927.
Died 23 March 2011.
University Link: Graduate
GU Degrees: MBChB, 1950; Medicine, MD, 1959;
Occupation categories: professors; scientists
Record last updated: 19th Jul 2017

University Connections

University Roles

• Graduate

Images

John MacVicar's Matriculation Slip