John Coleman Laidlaw, C.M., FRCPC, FRSC, FRCP, (1921 – June 6, 2015) was a Canadian endocrinologist and the third Dean of Medicine at

McMaster University Medical School The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, known as the McMaster University School of Medicine prior to 2004, is the medical school of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences. It ...

Education

Laidlaw attended the University of Toronto Schools for middle and high school. He was not able to start medical school for 2 years as he was too young for the admissions committee. Eventually, he attended the

University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine The Temerty Faculty of Medicine (previously Faculty of Medicine) is the medical school of the University of Toronto. Founded in 1843, the faculty is based in Downtown Toronto and is one of Canada's oldest institutions of medical studies, being k ...

for medical school and graduated in 1944 with his M.D. degree. He completed his M.A. in biochemistry at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1947 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1950. He went to

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

as an instructor in medicine where he conducted research in endocrinology for 3 years.

Career

In 1953, he returned to Canada to run the Clinical Investigation Unit at the

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue's Hospital ...

. In 1967, he established the Institute of Medical Sciences at the

along with

Ernest McCulloch Ernest Armstrong McCulloch (27 April 1926 – 20 January 2011) was a University of Toronto cellular biologist, best known for demonstrating – with James Till – the existence of stem cells. Biography McCulloch was born in Toronto, Ontar ...

and served as its director from 1967-1975. In 1975, he was lured to

as a professor of medicine until he was made the third Dean of Medicine and Vice President of Health Sciences in 1981. He held this position until 1985 and retired professor emeritus from McMaster in 1986. From 1986 onwards he served as the Executive Director, Medical Affairs of the Canadian Cancer Society, and Vice-President, Research and Education of OCTRF, now named

Cancer Care Ontario Cancer Care Ontario was an agency of the provincial Government of Ontario that was responsible for improving cancer services. It was created by the government of Bob Rae in April 1995, and was formally launched in 1997. The agency was governed un ...

Awards

* He was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 2003, an honorary Doctor of Science from McMaster University in 2004 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada from the same year * He was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by

in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laidlaw, John Coleman Canadian endocrinologists 1921 births 2015 deaths Members of the Order of Canada Canadian expatriates in the United Kingdom Canadian expatriates in the United States Harvard Medical School staff Alumni of the University of London