Professor Robert Ian McCallum (1920–2009): an appreciation
- Anthony Seaton, 8 Avon Grove, Cramond, Edinburgh EH4 6RF, Scotland, UK; a.seaton{at}abdn.ac.uk
- Revised 17 March 2009
Ian McCallum, uniquely, had served as Dean of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine, President of the British Society of Occupational Hygiene, President of the Society of Occupational Medicine, President of the Occupational Medicine section of the Royal Society of Medicine, and editor of the British Journal of Occupational Medicine. It would thus be no exaggeration to describe him as the leading figure in his discipline of his generation. A serious and scholarly man, as befitted someone with his early classical education, he nevertheless had a lighter side as evidenced by his distinction in Scottish country dancing, a discipline of which he was a certified teacher, and his love of gardening.
Ian was born in Ayrshire, Scotland but educated in England, graduating from Guy’s Hospital in 1943. Tuberculosis prevented military service but replaced it by arduous hospital responsibilities for 200 beds including everything …
