Robert Brockie Hunter, Baron Hunter of Newington LLD

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

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 ...

(14 July 1915 – 24 March 1994) was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

administrator. He was the personal physician to

Field Marshal Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and ...

, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in North west Europe from 1944 to 1945. To friends and colleagues he was known as Bob Hunter.

Life

He was born on 14 July 1915 the son of Margaret Thorburn (née Brockie) and Robert Marshall Hunter. He was educated at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eight ...

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 ...

then studied Medicine 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 ...

graduating MB ChB in 1938. In the

he served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

and was later appointed as personal physician to Field Marshal Montgomery. He was demobilised with the rank of Major and returned to Edinburgh to work under

Derrick Dunlop Sir Derrick Melville Dunlop FRSE FRCP FRCPE FRCSE FDS LLD QHP (3 April 1902-9 June 1980) was a senior Scottish physician and pharmacologist at the forefront of British medical administration and policy-making in the late 20th century. He created ...

. From 1947 to 1948 he was lecturer in Therapeutics, at the

, and in 1948 was lecturer in Clinical Medicine at

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. He was appointed Professor of Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics from 1948 to 1967 and was also Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1958 to 1962. In 1963 he became a member of the Ministry of Health Committee on Safety of Drugs and served on this committee until 1968. In academia he moved to the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee; . Abbreviated as ''Dund.'' for post-nominals. is a public university, public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a University college#United Kingdom, university college in 1881 with a donation ...

in 1967 becoming Professor of Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, from 1967 to 1968. He was then appointed Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

in 1968, a post he held until 1981. From 1973 to 1980 he was a member of the

DHSS The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. His ...

Independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health. Following the revelations in 1962 of the

thalidomide Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications of ...

disaster of the three previous years Hunter was appointed to the Committee on the Safety of Drugs and was Chairman of the Clinical Trials Sub-Committee. In 1964 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

Anthony Elliot Ritchie Anthony Elliot Ritchie FRSE FRCPE LLD (30 March 1915–14 September 1997) was a 20th-century Scottish physiologist and educator. Life Ritchie was born at 20 Upper Gray Street, Edinburgh on 30 March 1915, the only son of Jessie Jane Elliot and ...

, George Howard Bell, Ernest Geoffrey Cullwick and James Macdonald. Following his peerage in 1978 he was an active participant in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

and was a vocal supporter of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

. He died of a heart attack while in his garden in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

on 24 March 1994.

Honours & Arms

*11 October 1945 - appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) *1 November 1977 -

Knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

*17 July 1978 - created a

Life Peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Hunter of Newington, ''of Newington in the District of the City of

Family

He was married in 1940 to Kathleen Margaret Douglas with whom he had three sons and one daughter. Obituary Royal Society
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Robert Academics of the University of Dundee 1915 births 1994 deaths Vice-Chancellors of the University of Birmingham Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of St Andrews Crossbench life peers Knights Bachelor Members of the Order of the British Empire Life peers created by Elizabeth II