Prof. Sir Kenneth Calman


1941 -

Oncologist and administrator. Born in Glasgow, Calman educated at Allan Glen's School and the University of Glasgow, where he completed a medical degree, a batchelor's degree in biochemistry and a doctorate in dermatology. He gained a lectureship in Glasgow in 1969 and moved to a research post in London (1972-74 before being appointed to the Chair of Clinical Oncology at the University of Glasgow at a remarkably young age.

Calman went on to serve as Chief Medical Officer for Scotland (1989-91) and then Chief Medical Officer for England (1991-98), during a difficult period that included the BSE 'mad cow disease' crisis. He was the UK Representative at the World Health Organisation and chaired its Executive Committee (1988-89). He was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Durham University in 1998 and then, following his retirement, to the honorific position of Chancellor of the University of Glasgow in 2006.

He chaired the influential Calman Commission (2008-09), which reviewed the Scottish Devolution settlement and recommended an extension to the powers of the Scottish Parliament. He has also been Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Trust for Scotland (2010-15) and Chair of the Board of National Library of Scotland from 2016.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1971, the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1979, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1989, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 1989. He was knighted in 1996, is a Deputy Lieutenant of the City of Glasgow, and holds honorary degrees from the universities of Aberdeen, Glasgow, Paisley, Strathclyde, Stirling, and Glasgow Caledonian University.

The Calman Cancer Support Centre, which was the Chapel at the former Gartnavel Royal Hospital, opened in 2012 and was named in his honour. His daughter is the comedienne Susan Calman (b.1976) .


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