University Posthumously Honours Veteran Alumnus Dr John Forfar

The University of St Andrews honoured the late alumnus Dr John Forfar on Wednesday 12 November through the dedication of a multipurpose study room in the School of Medicine, officially named the Dr John Forfar Clinical Study Room. 

The dedication precedes the future Doctor John Forfar medal, which the University will begin to award to Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) students starting at the 2028 summer graduation. 

Dr Forfar, born in 1916 in Glasgow, was an accomplished member of the St Andrews community. He graduated in 1941 from the St Andrews MBChB programme and worked as a house surgeon in Perth soon after. 

In 1942, Dr Forfar was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps, later joining the No. 47 Commando as their medical officer and serving his battalion on D-Day in Normandy. 

Dr Forfar received the Military Cross award in 1945 for his exceptional bravery in treating fellow wounded soldiers in 1944 following the D-Day Allied invasion. A painting of Dr Forfar depicting this feat, by the wartime artist Leslie Cole, hangs in the Imperial War Museum.

After his military service, he returned to his civilian medical career, where he pioneered research in and advocated for British paediatric health. Dr Forfar returned to St Andrews as a Senior Lecturer in Child Health from 1948 until 1950, when he moved to Edinburgh to continue his career as a doctor, lecturer, researcher, and advocate in paediatrics and children’s health. St Andrews awarded Dr Forfar a Doctor of Medicine (MD) with commendation in 1958.

The School Manager for the School of Medicine, Clive Masson, told The Saint: “His accomplishments were so substantial and multi-dimensional, it’s just impossible to say this one rather than that one. You’ve got to see the totality of his life.”

Dr Forfar had a successful personal life alongside his career until his death in 2013. He was married to Isobel Fernback from 1942 until her death in 2012, and together they had three children: David, Colin, and Joan. Both David Forfar and Dr Colin Forfar attended the dedication ceremony on Wednesday, alongside his daughter-in-law Alison Forfar, as well as Principal Dame Sally Mapstone and the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Deborah Williamson. 

At the dedication, Dame Mapstone said: “As we open the doors to the Dr John Forfar Clinical Study Room, we do more than dedicate a space. We affirm the values that Dr Forfar embodied: courage in adversity, compassion in practice, and commitment to the betterment of others.”

Masson told The Saint that Dr Forfar’s family described him as a “humble and modest and unassuming” man, adding, “He treated fifteen people and kept them alive in one night without any supervision in the cellar. He just never talked about it.” 

His obituary in The Scotsman reads that “he had a great sense of humour, was a loyal friend to many, supportive of colleagues and staff at all levels.”

The University hopes to impart the lessons of Dr Forfar’s life to current and future Medicine students through the dedication of this study room and the future Dr John Forfar medal. The official description for the award in the School of Medicine Handbook states it will be “awarded to the St Andrews MBChB student who demonstrates the most outstanding leadership and achievements in the field of community engagement.” The award will be subject to application, determined by a panel, and distributed at graduation following the fifth year of study, with winners receiving a cash prize, a physical medal, and a transcript entry. 

The award is intended to remind students of Dr Forfar’s “resilience and fortitude” in the face of incredibly difficult circumstances, according to Masson.

He emphasised that Dr Forfar “isn’t some sepia-toned [...] back in the mist of time” role model. “His granddaughter is a junior doctor in Northern Ireland who was one of our students. He was not too far away.”

Photo provided by the University of St Andrews