John Urquhart Cameron (born 1943) is an academic and social reformer and a former parish minister of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

. He met and married the Anglo-Swedish skier Jill Sjoberg when he was a marketing executive with

GlaxoSmithKline GSK plc (an acronym from its former name GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with headquarters in London. It was established in 2000 by a Mergers an ...

in London and they have a daughter Clare and a son Alex.

Biography

Cameron was born in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He is the eldest son of Alexander Cameron, a miner who went up from the West-Central coalfields to 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 ...

to study divinity during the depression. His father, serving as an army padre throughout

World War II 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 ...

, returned to the coalfields as the parish minister of

Slamannan Slamannan () is a village in the south of the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. It is south-west of Falkirk, east of Cumbernauld and north-east of Airdrie. Slamannan is located at the cross of the B803 and B8022 roads, near the ...

where he was for many years a Labour Party councillor in

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

. His maternal grandfather, Hugh Urquhart, was a leading Scottish railway engineer in the early decades of the 20th century. He was educated at Falkirk High School and at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

and 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 ...

. He holds a

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 ...

in both

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. During his time in California he attended lectures given at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

by the theoretical physicist

Richard Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist. He is best known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of t ...

. The Nobel Laureate's third wife, Gwyneth Howarth, was a distant relative of Cameron and the two men became friends, remaining close until Feynman's death in 1989. Cameron and another friend and associate of Feynman,

Freeman Dyson Freeman John Dyson (15 December 1923 – 28 February 2020) was a British-American theoretical physics, theoretical physicist and mathematician known for his works in quantum field theory, astrophysics, random matrix, random matrices, math ...

, later became critics of the

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

hypothesis popularized by

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

. Cameron was an athlete and selected for the Scottish international athletics team while at school, and later gained one of the first American sports scholarships awarded to a Scottish runner. He played golf, playing for the University of St Andrews in the 1960s and the University of Edinburgh in the 1970s before becoming a member of

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

. Following his time with

in London he entered the Church of Scotland ministry. He was parish minister of

Broughty Ferry Broughty Ferry (; ; ) is a suburb of Dundee, in Scotland. It is situated four miles east of the City Centre, Dundee, city centre on the north bank of the Firth of Tay. The area was a separate burgh from 1864 until 1913, when it was incorporated ...

for 35 years during which time he also taught religious studies at the

High School of Dundee The High School of Dundee is a private, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland, which provides nursery, primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the only private sc ...

. At other times during his career he lectured in physics and mathematics at

Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

, the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

and

Abertay University Abertay University () is a public university in the city of Dundee, Scotland. In 1872, Sir David Baxter, 1st Baronet of Kilmaron, left a bequest for the establishment of a mechanics' institute in Dundee and the Dundee Institute of Technology w ...

. His family includes journalist James Cameron who wrote articles for '' The Courier,

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

, The Good Ski Guide, The Good Holiday Magazine'' and ''The Scottish Review'', he was also a senior chaplain for many years in the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

and later padre to the

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

He is known as a social reformer among the Scottish clergy and has collaborated with the Very Rev Professor

Iain Torrance Sir Iain Richard Torrance, (born 13 January 1949) is a retired Church of Scotland minister, theologian and academic. He is Pro-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, Honorary Professor of Early Christian Doctrine and Ethics at the Univers ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

to address some of the most controversial topics of the day. He is an advocate and supporter of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

, ordination of gay clergy, the right to physician assisted suicide, women's

right to choose Freedom of choice describes an individual's opportunity and autonomy to perform an action selected from at least two available options, unconstrained by external parties. In politics In the abortion debate, for example, the term "freedom of c ...

and the decriminalisation of narcotics. He joined Torrance and Dr Jim Swire to campaign for the retrial of

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi Abdelbaset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi ( , ; 1 April 1952 – 20 May 2012) was a Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing of Pan Am flight 103. He was head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines, director of the Centre for Strategic Studies in Trip ...

the Libyan convicted of the

Lockerbie Bombing Pan Am Flight 103 (PA103/PAA103) was a regularly scheduled Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit via a stopover in London and another in New York City. Shortly after 19:00 on 21 December 1988, the Boeing 747 "Clipper Maid of th ...

. His critical report of the scientific and forensic evidence presented at the trial in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

changed attitudes to Megrahi.Jeans, Chris. ''The Case of the Lockerbie Bomber''. Al Jazeere documentary, June 2011.

References

''Scottish Who's Who.'' edited by Martin Frost.

''Legalise assisted suicide, Kirk minister says.'' by Melanie Read in The Times, published 25 November 2009.

''Gay clergy discrimination absolutely illegal: Rev John Cameron.'' by David Lord in the Courier, published 29 April 2011.
* asti Ecclesiæ Scoticanæ. XI. Edinburgh: T&T Clark Ltd. 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, John Urquhart 1943 births Living people Clergy from Dundee 21st-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 21st-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Scottish social justice activists 20th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Pomona College alumni Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of Edinburgh Napier University Academics of the University of Dundee Academics of the University of Abertay Dundee People educated at Falkirk High School