William Arthur Harland FRSE FRCPC FRCPG (7 March 1926 – 9 January 1985) was a Belfast-born physician. After a lifetime of international roles he became Regius Professor of Forensic Medicine at

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

and then Dean of the Faculty of Law. He appeared as an expert witness in many British trials. He was also an expert in

atherosclerosis Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no s ...

and

thyroid The thyroid, or thyroid gland, is an endocrine gland in vertebrates. In humans it is in the neck and consists of two connected lobes. The lower two thirds of the lobes are connected by a thin band of tissue called the thyroid isthmus. The thy ...

disease. He was one of the persons to introduce radiocarbon dating into forensic science.

Life

He was born on 7 March 1926, at 7 Ulsterville Avenue in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, the son of Robert Wallace Harland and Elizabeth Montgomery Robb. He studied at

Methodist College Belfast God with us , established = 1865 , type = Voluntary grammar , religion = Interdenominational , principal = Jenny Lendrum , chair_label = Chairwoman , chair = Revd. Dr Janet Unsworth , founder ...

and graduated in 1948 from

Queen's University, Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

with a MB ChB in Medicine. Soon after marrying he moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. From 1955 he was director of laboratories at St Joseph's Hospital in Chatham, Ontario. In 1958 he moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

as assistant pathologist in the Jewish General Hospital. In 1960 he moved to the Caribbean as senior lecturer at the University of the West Indies. In 1964 he returned to Britain with his young family to teach at the Atheroma Resident Unit 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 ...

. In 1966 he became senior lecturer in pathology at

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

. Only in 1974 did he receive a doctorate (MD), at the point of his being raised to professor of forensic medicine. He was promoted to dean in 1980 serving until 1983 but continuing as professor until death. In 1980 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Robert Goudie, John R Anderson,

Martin Smellie Robert Martin Stuart Smellie FRSE FIB (1927–1988) was a 20th-century Scottish biochemist and first Cathcart Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow. The university's Smellie Prize is named after him. Life He was born in Roth ...

and

Robert Alexander Rankin Robert Alexander Rankin FRSE FRSAMD (27 October 1915 – 27 January 2001) was a Scottish mathematician who worked in analytic number theory. Life Rankin was born in Garlieston in Wigtownshire the son of Rev Oliver Rankin (1885–1954), minister ...

. From 1964 he lived in the family home at

Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, southeast of Greenock and aroun ...

west of

Personal life

In 1953, Harland married Brenda Foxcroft (b.1930). They had four children: June Elizabeth Harland, William Montgomery Harland, John Paul Harland, and Richard Duncan Harland. On 9 January 1985, Harland died.

Publications

*''The Thyroid Gland in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

'' (1964) *''Thyroid Hormone Metabolism'' (1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harland, William Arthur 1926 births 1985 deaths Medical doctors from Belfast Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Academics of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British forensic scientists People educated at Methodist College Belfast