James Norman Davidson

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 ...

PRSE 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 ...

FRS (5 March 1911 – 11 September 1972) was a British

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

, pioneer

molecular biologist Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

and textbook author. The Davidson Building at 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 ...

is named for him.

Life

He was the only child of Wilhelmina Ibberson Foote and James Davidson

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". ...

FSA (1873-1956) a lawyer, Treasurer of the

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 ...

and originally from Aberdeenshire. He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 5 March 1911 and lived in the family home of 30 Bruntsfield Gardens in the south of the city. He was educated locally, at

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

, where he was

dux ''Dux'' (, : ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, ''dux'' coul ...

.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Norman Davidson He then studied Medicine and Organic Chemistry 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 ...

graduating with a BSc in 1934, MB ChB in 1937, MD in 1939 and a DSc in 1945. The topic of his DSc thesis was biochemical investigations on cellular proliferation. In 1937/38 he studied under

Otto Heinrich Warburg Otto Heinrich Warburg (, ; 8 October 1883 – 1 August 1970) was a German physiologist, medical doctor, and Nobel laureate. He served as an officer in the elite Uhlan (cavalry regiment) during the First World War, and was awarded the Iron Cross ...

in Berlin-Dahlem. He returned to

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 ...

in autumn of 1938 to begin lecturing in biochemistry at 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 ...

. From 1940 to 1945 he was Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

. In 1941 he was elected a Fellow 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 ...

. His proposers were James Kendall, Ernest Cruickshank,

Robert Campbell Garry Robert Campbell Garry, OBE, FRSE, (21 April 1900 – 16 April 1993) was a British physician and Professor of Medicine at the University of St Andrews and the University of Glasgow. During World War II, as an expert on human physiology, he ad ...

, and Anderson Gray M'Kendrick. He was Secretary to the Society 1949–1954, Vice President 1955-58 and served two terms as president from 1958 to 1959 and 1964–67. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1960. Davidson was Professor of Biochemistry at the

from 1947 to 1972. In 1949 he appointed Martin Smellie as his assistant. In 1958 he succeeded George M. Wishart as the Gardiner Professor of Physiology at the University of Glasgow. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1967. He died of a heart attack in

Bearsden Bearsden ( ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the northwestern fringe of Greater Glasgow, approximately from the Glasgow city centre, city centre. The Roman Empire, Roman Antonine Wall runs through the town, and the remains of ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 11 September 1972.

Publications

*''The Biochemistry of Nucleic Acids'' (1950)

Family

In 1938 he married Morag McLeod (now Dr Morag Davidson). Their children included Rona McLeod MacKie

(b.1940) and Ailsa Morag Campbell

(b.1943).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, J. Norman 1911 births 1972 deaths 20th-century Scottish biologists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Aberdeen Academics of the University of Dundee Academics of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Scottish biochemists British molecular biologists People educated at George Watson's College Scientists from Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh 20th-century British surgeons 20th-century biochemists 20th-century British chemists 20th-century British biologists