Sir Gordon William Duff, (born 27 December 1947) is a British medical scientist and academic. He was Principal of

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it remained a women's college until 20 ...

, from 2014 to 2021. He was Lord Florey Professor of Molecular Medicine at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

from 1991 to 2014.

Early life and education

Duff was born on 27 December 1947. He was educated at

Perth Academy Perth Academy is a state comprehensive secondary school in Perth, Scotland. It was founded in 1696. The institution is a non-denominational one. The school occupies ground on the side of a hill in the Viewlands area of Perth, and is within the P ...

, then a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

grammar school in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Scotland, and at

Hipperholme Grammar School ) , established = , closed = , type = Independent school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head Teacher , head = Mr Nick James , chair_label = Chair of Go ...

, a school in

Hipperholme Hipperholme is a village in West Yorkshire, England, located between the towns of Halifax and Brighouse in the Hipperholme and Lightcliffe ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 11,3 ...

, Yorkshire, England. He studied medicine at

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is located in New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom. It occupies the site of two of the university's medieval halls, dating back to at least the 14th ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1969 and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (BM BCh) degrees in 1975: as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA Oxon) degree in 1975. He undertook postgraduate research in

neuropharmacology Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect function in the nervous system, and the neural mechanisms through which they influence behavior. There are two main branches of neuropharmacology: behavioral and molecular. Behavioral neuropharmac ...

St Thomas's Hospital Medical School St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London was one of the oldest and most prestigious medical schools in the UK. The school was absorbed to form part of King's College London. History It was part of one of the oldest hospitals in London, ...

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 degr ...

, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1980. His doctoral thesis was titled "Some observations on body temperature regulation in the rabbit".

Career

From 1975 to 1976, Duff was a house officer in medicine at

St Thomas' Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS ...

, London, and in surgery at

Stracathro Hospital Stracathro Hospital is a community hospital in Angus, Scotland. Established as a wartime Emergency Hospital Service facility during the Second World War, it was afterward developed as a District General Hospital. Since 2005 it has been the site o ...

, Angus, Scotland. From January 2013 to 2014, Duff served as the Chairman of the

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom which is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptab ...

. He stepped down in 2014, and was succeeded by

Sir Michael Rawlins Sir Michael David Rawlins (28 March 1941 – 1 January 2023) was a British clinical pharmacologist and emeritus professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. During his medical career he chaired several executive agencies including the ...

. Duff was the Principal of

, from 2014 to 2021. He was the first male head of the formerly all-female college. Since 1 July 2015, he has also been the Chair of the

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, is a non-departmental public body (NDPB), and is the largest UK public funder of non-medical bioscience. It predominantly funds scientific re ...

(BBSRC).

Personal life

In 1969, Duff married Naida Margaret Clarke, the daughter of Air Commodore

Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life T ...

, OBE and Eileen Clarke. They have two daughters.

Honours

In the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, Duff was appointed a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are ...

, and therefore granted the title ''sir'', "for services to public health". This was in recognition of his role in the inquiry into the conduct of a drugs trial at Northwick Park Hospital in 2006. In 1999, Duff was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci). In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). On 17 July 2017, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Sheffield.

Selected works

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duff, Gordon William 1947 births Honorary Fellows of St Peter's College, Oxford Knights Bachelor Living people Principals of St Hilda's College, Oxford Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at Perth Academy Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)