Robert Crowe Curran (28 July 1921 – 5 September 2006) was a British pathologist, Leith Professor of Pathology,

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, 1966–1986. He served as President of the Royal College of Pathologists from 1981 to 1984.

Life

He was born in

Wishaw Wishaw (; ; ) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the River Clyde, Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The town is part of the Motherwell and Wishaw (UK Parliament constituency), Motherwell and Wishaw c ...

in central

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 ...

the son of John Hamilton Curran, ex-foreman of the local steelworks, and his wife, Sarah Carson Crowe. His brother was the physicist Sir Samuel Crowe Curran. He was educated at Wishaw High School then studied Medicine at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

graduating in 1943. From 1945 until 1947 he served as a physician with 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 ...

in India. From 1950 to 1955 he lectured in Pathology at

. In 1955 he became Senior Lecturer in Pathology at

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

before receiving a Professorship from St Thomas' Medical School in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1958. In 1966 he moved to the chair in Pathology at

. 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 ...

but resigned in October 2000. He died on 5 September 2006, aged 85.

Publications

*''Colour Atlas of Histopathology'' (1996)

Family

He married Margaret Marion Park in 1947 following demobilisation from the army. They had one son, Andrew Curran, and one daughter, Marjorie Curran.

References

1921 births 2006 deaths British pathologists Academics of the University of Birmingham {{UK-med-bio-stub