James Douglas Miller

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(20 July 1937 – 23 August 1995) was a Scottish

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

of international repute. The Douglas Miller Memorial Lecture is named in his honour.

Life

He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on 20 July 1937. His father was an executive at Collins the publisher. He was educated at

Glasgow Academy The Glasgow Academy is a coeducational independent day school for pupils aged 3–18 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 2016, it had the third-best Higher level exam results in Scotland. Founded in 1845, it is the oldest continuously fully independent ...

then studied medicine at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

graduating with an

MB ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

. Meeting

Bryan Jennett William Bryan Jennett (1 March 1926 – 26 January 2008) was a British neurosurgeon, a faculty member at the University of Glasgow Medical School, and the first full-time chair of neurosurgery in Scotland. He was the co-developer of the assess ...

he was inspired to be a neurosurgeon. From 1962 to 1965 he was Surgical Senior House Officer at

Glasgow Royal Infirmary The Glasgow Royal Infirmary (GRI) is a large teaching hospital. With a capacity of around 1,000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around , and straddles the Townhead and Dennistoun districts on the north-eastern fringe of the city cen ...

. From 1965 to 1967 he was a Medical Research Council

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

. In 1969 he went to America to the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

to study under Dr Langfitt. In 1971 he returned to Scotland and began lecturing in neurosurgery at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. In 1975 he became Professor of Neurosurgery at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

and in 1981 returned to Scotland as Professor of Surgical Neurology at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. He was also a practising neurosurgeon at Edinburgh's

Western General Hospital The Western General Hospital (often abbreviated to simply ‘The Western General’) is a health facility at Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian. History The hospital was designed by Peddie and Kinnear and opened as ...

. Noted Indian neurosurgeon

B. K. Misra Dr. Basant Kumar Misra is a neurosurgeon specialising in treating brain, spine, cerebrovascular and peripheral nervous system disorders, injuries, pathologies and malformations. He is the Vice-President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical ...

is one of his students. In 1992 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

Phillip Harris Phillip Harris (born 29 September 1989) is a British former figure skater. He is a three-time British national champion (2014–2015, 2015–2016, 2017–2018) and has qualified for the free skate at four ISU Championships. Career Early ...

, Cameron Gould,

Sir Patrick Forrest Sir Andrew Patrick McEwen Forrest (25 March 1923 – 7 August 2021) was a Scottish surgeon. After qualifying in medicine from the University of St Andrews and completing a Fellowship at the Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota, he took up surgic ...

and Sir Abraham Goldberg. He died of a heart attack in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

on 23 August 1995.

Family

In 1965 he was married to Margaret (Margot) Rainey. They had two sons, Derek and Kenneth.

References

Scottish neurosurgeons Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Medical doctors from Glasgow People educated at the Glasgow Academy University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Virginia faculty 1937 births 1995 deaths 20th-century surgeons {{Scotland-med-bio-stub