Veterinarian
Born 29 May 1925.
Died 11 January 1997.

An eminent veterinary scientist, who was on the team who created the first commercial vaccine for a parasitic disease in cattle.

Connection to the University of Glasgow: Graduate, Lecturer, Professor
GU Degrees: BVMS, 1947; PhD, 1955;

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Achievements

The following achievement is associated with George Urquhart:

Inventing the world’s first commercial vaccine for a parasitic disease of cattle (Dictol)
In the late 1950s, a multidisciplinary group of scientists at the Glasgow Veterinary School developed the world's first successful vaccine for a parasitic disease affecting cattle.

Honours

The following honour is associated with this person:

• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh

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Biography

George Macdonald Urquhart was titular Professor in Experimental Veterinary Parasitology at the University from 1970 to 1979, and Professor of Veterinary Parasitology from 1979 to 1990.

Urquhart studied at the Glasgow Veterinary College, graduating BVMS in 1947 and winning the Gold Medal and the Donald Campbell Memorial Prize. He spent two years in the Ministry of Agriculture's Parasitology Department and from 1949 to 1956 he was an assistant and then lecturer in the University's Veterinary School, obtaining a PhD in 1955 for his work on liver fluke disease. He worked as a veterinary helminthologist in Kenya for three years and returned to work as a researcher in Glasgow in 1960. In 1968, he was appointed a Reader in Veterinary Parasitology.

Under Urquhart's leadership, the Vet School gained an international reputation as a centre for the study of veterinary parasitology. A notable success came with the development, in collaboration with Bill Jarrett, Bill Mulligan and other colleagues, of the Dictol vaccine to combat parasitic bronchitis in cattle.

Urquhart was President of the World Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Parasitology from 1987 to 1991, as well as Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and an Honorary Member of the British Society Of Parasitology.