Dr Daniel Stewart MacLagan

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 so ...

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(3 June 1904 – 3 February 1991) was a 20th-century Scottish agricultural zoologist and entomologist. He was popularly known as Dan MacLagan.

Life

He was born on 3 June 1904 at Williamstone Farm in

Madderty Madderty is a village in Strathearn, Perth and Kinross. It lies on the former railway line connecting Perth and Crieff. The Gask Ridge and its Roman road lie to the south and the remains of Inchaffray Abbey to the north. Madderty is mentioned i ...

near

Crieff Crieff (; gd, Craoibh, meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins the A823 to Dunfermline. Crieff has bec ...

the son of a farmer. He studied agricultural zoology at university and graduated in 1928. He then won a

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

Scholarship enabling him to do further research at the Parasite Laboratory in the Imperial Institute of Entomology in

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. He then spent a year doing further research at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in America. On his return to Scotland he received a prestigious Carnegie Research Fellowship 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 ...

and gained his first doctorate (PhD). In 1934 he began lecturing at the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

, and in 1936 received his second doctorate (DSc). In 1937 he moved tom Durham University. In 1944 he returned to Scotland as Head of the Zoology Department at the West of Scotland Agricultural College 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 pop ...

. In 1946 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

James Ritchie James Ritchie may refer to: * James Ritchie (rugby union) (1907–1942), Scottish international rugby union player * James Ritchie (naturalist) (1882–1958), President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh * James Ritchie (Massachusetts politician) ...

, Alfred E. Cameron,

Maurice Yonge Sir Charles Maurice Yonge, CBE, FRS FRSE (9 December 1899 – 17 March 1986) was an English marine zoologist. Life Charles Maurice Yonge was born in Silcoates School near Wakefield in Yorkshire in 1899 the son of John Arthur Yonge (1865-194 ...

, and Alexander D. Peacock. He retired from academia in 1969 and returned to Madderty to run the family farm. He died on 3 February 1991 at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Edinburgh. On his death he bequeathed monies to run entomological lectures in Glasgow and money to the

Macaulay Institute The Macaulay Institute, formally the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute and sometimes referred to simply as The Macaulay, is a research institute based at Aberdeen in Scotland, which is now part of the James Hutton Institute. Its work cov ...

in Aberdeen to provide scholarships to young scientists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacLagan, Daniel 1904 births 1991 deaths People from Perthshire Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society 20th-century Scottish scientists Scottish zoologists Scottish entomologists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 20th-century British zoologists