Sir John Peebles Arbuthnott (8 April 1939 – 21 February 2023) was a Scottish

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

who was Principal of the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

. He succeeded Lord Wilson of Tillyorn as President of 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 ...

in October 2011 and was succeeded by Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell in October 2014. Arbuthnott served as Principal and Vice Chancellor of the

between 1991 and 2000, succeeding

Sir Graham Hills Sir Graham Hills (9 April 1926 – 9 February 2014) was a physical chemist, principal of the University of Strathclyde, and a governor of the BBC. He was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex and educated at Westcliff High School for Boys and Birkbec ...

Life and career

Arbuthnott was educated at Hyndland Senior Secondary School, the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

( BSc,

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

), and

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 ...

( MA, ScD). In 1998, he was made 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 Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

for services to education. In December 1997, while Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the

, Arbuthnott chaired the ''National Review of Resource Allocation ("The Arbuthnott Report"'' and ''"the Arbuthnott Review".'' The principal task of the independent review was to consider how money was allocated annually to fund the 14 Scottish NHS Boards. The resulting mechanism, known as the Arbuthnott Formula, assesses key indicators of population, inequality and deprivation of the areas covered by each of the boards to allocate money. Arbuthnott was chair of the Arbuthnott Commission set up in 2004 to consider the consequences of having four separate voting systems for elections in Scotland and also different boundaries for Holyrood and Westminster constituencies. Sir John Arbuthnott died on 21 February 2023, at the age of 83.

Professional posts

: ** Assistant lecturer, 1960–1963 ** Lecturer, 1963–1967 * New York Medical Center: Visiting lecturer, 1966–1967 *

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

: Research fellow, 1968–72 * University of Glasgow: Senior lecturer, Department of Bacteriology, 1972–1975 *

: ** Professor of microbiology 1976-1988 ** Bursar, 1983–86 *

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

: Professor of microbiology 1988-1991 *

, Glasgow: Principal and Vice-Chancellor, 1991–2000

Professional committee work

* Chairman, Expert Group on Labour's plan for National Care Service * Chairman,

Joint Information Systems Committee Jisc is a United Kingdom not-for-profit organisation that provides network and IT services and digital resources in support of further and higher education and research, as well as the public sector. Its head office is based in Bristol with o ...

, 1993–98 * Chairman,

Greater Glasgow Health Board Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

, November 2002- * Chairman, Commission Report on Boundary Differences and Voting Systems, 2005-6 * Convener, Committee of Scottish Higher Education Principals, 1994–1996 * Convener, National Review of Allocation of Health Resources in Scotland, 1997–1999 * Vice Chairman,

CVCP Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of chancellor (education), vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of ...

, 1997–99 * Dr Campbell Christie and Arbuthnott eports on public service delivery and resource allocation* Secretary-Treasurer,

Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland is a charitable trust established by Andrew Carnegie in 1901 for the benefit of the universities of Scotland, their students and their staff. The incorporation of the Trust was by royal ch ...

, 2000- * Member of the council,

Society of General Microbiology The Microbiology Society (previously the Society for General Microbiology) is a learned society based in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership based in universities, industry, hospitals, research institutes and schools. It is the large ...

1981–1986, (senior ed 1980–1984, treasurer 1987–1992) * Meetings secretary, Federation of European Microbiology Societies, 1986–1990 * Member, Microbiological Safety of Food Committee, 1989–1990 * Member, AFRC Animal Research Board, 1989–1992 * Member,

Public Health Laboratory Service In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

Board, 1991–1997 * Member, DTI Multimedia Advisory Group, 1994–1996 * Member, Educational Counselling Service Board,

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

, 1995–1996 * Member, Glasgow Development Agency, 1995- * Member,

National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education The Dearing Report, formally known as the reports of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, is a series of major reports into the future of Higher Education in the United Kingdom, published in 1997. The report was commissioned b ...

, 1996–97 * Member, Scottish Science Trust, 1999 * Member,

Pathological Society The Pathological Society is a professional organization of Great Britain and Ireland whose mission is stated as 'understanding disease'. Membership and profile The membership of the society is mainly drawn from the UK and includes an internatio ...

Professional honours

* Honorary fellow, Trinity College, Dublin 1992 * MRIA 1985 * FSB 1988 *

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

1989 *

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

1993 * FIIB 1993 *

FRCPath The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation. Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to p ...

1995 * Honorary degree of Lodz University of Technology,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, May 1995 * Hon FRCPGlasg * St Mungo Prize 2010 * Hon Doctor of Science St Margaret University, Edinburgh, July 2000

Publications

* * * *

References

External links

NHS Scotland Resource Allocation Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbuthnott, John Peebles 1939 births 2023 deaths Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Nottingham Alumni of the University of Glasgow Alumni of Trinity College Dublin

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom) Fellows of the Royal College of Pathologists Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Knights Bachelor Members of the Royal Irish Academy People associated with the University of Strathclyde People educated at Hyndland Secondary School Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish knights Scottish microbiologists Scottish pathologists Scottish scholars and academics