John Anderson Strong (18 February 1915 – 15 December 2012) was a Scottish physician/internist and academic, who served as Professor of Medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

and the President of the

Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that set the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by royal charter i ...

. Born in Ireland, he was educated at

Monkton Combe School Monkton Combe School is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school), in the village of Monkton Combe near Bath in Somerset, England. History Monkton Combe School was founded in 1868 by the Revd. Francis Pocock, a former curate ...

in Bath, and then studied medicine at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. Shortly after graduating, he entered the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

at the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and served in the UK and in the Far East throughout the war. He was awarded the MBE in 1942 for his military work, and

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in 1945 for his service in Burma; after the war, he was given the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the RAMC.''Who's Who'' He then began to teach medicine, and was appointed to the post of Senior Lecturer at the

in 1949, along with the position of honorary consulting physician at the

Western General Hospital The Western General Hospital (often abbreviated to simply ‘The Western General’) is a health facility at Craigleith, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is managed by NHS Lothian. History The hospital was designed by Peddie and Kinnear and opened as ...

. In 1959 he was appointed as an honorary physician in the Medical Research Council Clinical and Population Cytogenetics Unit, and in 1966 was appointed to a Chair of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh. He retired from the latter two posts in 1980, at the age of 65, and was appointed Professor Emeritus the following year. In 1979 he was appointed President of the

, holding the position until 1982. Other medical work in his later career included sitting as a member of the

Medicines Commission The Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) is a committee of the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. It was formed in October 2005, and assumed the responsibilities of the Medicines Commission and the Committee on Safety of Medi ...

from 1976 to 1983, and as the chair of the Scottish Health Education Co-Ordinating Committee from 1986 to 1988. He was a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

, the

, and the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...

, as well as an honorary fellow of the

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a Philadelphia-based national organization of internal medicine physicians, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty or ...

(1980), the

Royal College of Physicians of Ireland The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI), () is an Irish professional body dedicated to improving the practice of general medicine and related medical specialty, medical specialities, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by e ...

(1980), the

College of Physicians of Philadelphia The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the oldest private medical society in the United States. Founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia physicians "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the dise ...

, the

College of Physicians of South Africa A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary school ...

, the

Royal College of General Practitioners The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is the professional body for general (medical) practitioners (GPs/ Family Physicians/ Primary Care Physicians) in the United Kingdom. The RCGP represents and supports GPs on key issues including ...

, and a member of the

Academy of Medicine, Singapore The Academy of Medicine, Singapore (AMS), is a professional and educational organisation for doctors and dentists in Singapore. Background The Academy of Medicine, Singapore, was founded in 1957 and served both Singapore and Malaysia until the ...

. In 1952 he was elected a member of the

Harveian Society of Edinburgh The Harveian Society of Edinburgh was founded in April 1782 by Andrew Duncan (physician, born 1744), Andrew Duncan. The Society holds an annual Festival in honour of the life and works of William Harvey, the physician who first correctly des ...

. He was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 1978. He married Moira Heaney in 1939, with whom he had one son and two daughters: she died in 1997. He was cited by professor

Bryan Sykes Bryan Clifford Sykes (9 September 1947 – 10 December 2020) was a British geneticist and science writer who was a Fellow of Wolfson College and Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics at the University of Oxford. Sykes published the first repor ...

in ''Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men''''Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men''
/ref>

Notes

References

* "STRONG, Dr John Anderson", in {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, John Alexander 1915 births 2012 deaths Scottish surgeons Scottish scholars and academics Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Medical Corps officers Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Academics of the University of Edinburgh Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of General Practitioners Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin People educated at Monkton Combe School Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh