| Activity | Education:
University of Glasgow MB, ChB, Hon D.Sc. (1955-2002); University of Strathclyde Hon D.Sc. (1992)
Career:
House Physician to Dr W.R. Snodgrass and his successor, Dr T.N. Frazer House Surgeon to Sir Charles Illingworth, both at the Western Infirmary, Glasgow (1955-56); Senior House Officer in Pathology, Department of Pathology, University and Western Infirmary, Glasgow (1956-58); Registrar in Laboratory Medicine, Department of Pathology, University and Western Infirmary, Glasgow (1958-61); Instructor in Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (1960-61); Lecturer in Medical Genetics, University of Glasgow (1961-65); Senior Lecturer in Medical Genetics, Department of Genetics and Child Health, University of Glasgow (1965-71); Honorary Consultant in Medical Paediatrics, and Director, Medical Genetics Unit, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow (1966-73); Reader in Medical Genetics, Departments of Genetics and Child Health, University of Glasgow (1971-73); Professor of Medical Genetics, University of Glasgow (1973-87); Honorary Consultant in Genetics and Director, West of Scotland Regional Genetics Service, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow (1973-87); Director, East Anglian Regional Genetics Service (1987-95); Professor of Pathology, University of Cambridge and Honorary Consultant in Medical Genetics, Addenbrooke’s NHS Trust (1987-98); Emeritus Professor of Pathology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge (1998-2026).
Memberships:
MRCPath 1966; MRCP, RCPS (Glasgow) 1972
Awards/Lectures:
R. Thornton Wilson Award in Genetic and Preventive Psychiatry 1961
Bronze Medical of the University of Helsinki 1968
Finlayson Lecture, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow 1976
The First Phillip von Wielligh Trust Lecturer in Medical Genetics, Southern African Inherited Disorders Association 1978
Cameron Lecture, Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh 1983
Fleming Lecture, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons, Glasgow 1984
Kettle Lecture, Royal College of Pathologists 1986
Choremis Memorial Lecture, Hellenic Paediatric Society, Athens 1987
Percival J. Hay Memorial Medal, North of England Ophthalmological Society 1988
Makdougall-Brisbane Medal for 1984-1986, Royal Society of Edinburgh 1988
Darwin Lecture, Institute of Biology and the Galton Institute 1989
Invited Lecturer, Human Genetics Society of Australasia 1989
San Remo International Prize for Genetic Research 1990
Tenth Derrick-Mackerras Memorial Lecture, Queensland Institute of Medical Research 1993
Ransom Lecture, University of Nottingham 1995
Mauro Baschirotto Award for achievements in human genetics, European Society of Human Genetics 1996
Sir J.Y. Simpson Award, University of Edinburgh, Centre for Reproduction 1998
J.B.S. Haldane Medal, Society of Bionaturalists, Bhopal, India 2000
McLaughlin-Gallie Professorship, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada 2001
Invited Lecturer, Australasian Society of Cytogeneticists 2004
Invited Lecturer, Polish Society for Human Genetics 2007
Pruzansky Lecture, American College of Medical Genetics 2008 |
| OtherInfo | Malcolm Ferguson-Smith’s significant contributions to human genetics and cytogenetics range from early studies applying the sex chromatin method to the analysis of intersexual states, to genome mapping through the use of chromosome rearrangements. Malcolm was the first to report the now familiar phenomenon of satellite association, the 48 XXXY karyotype, and the specificity of location of secondary constrictions in the human chromosome set. His contributions to the knowledge of human meiosis have been of the highest quality and he was the first to succeed in identifying the characteristic cross configurations expected at pachytene in subjects heterozygous for a reciprocal translocation. Malcolm is also the author of a provocative hypothesis concerning the location of the basic genetic lesion in Turner’s syndrome, the genetic causation of XX masculinity and true hermaphroditism (by transference of a masculinising segment of Y to the X chromosome), and the nonrandom distribution of break points in spontaneous structural rearrangements. He has been a pioneer of methods for prenatal diagnosis of genetic disease.
Since his election in 1983, his research concentrated on providing many early assignments to the human gene map; on the positional cloning of disease genes; on developing flow sorting of chromosomes for producing chromosome-specific multicolour chromosome paints used in medical diagnosis; on cross-species chromosome homology for the study of evolution in vertebrates; and on chromosome-specific sequencing for genomic studies. Later research of his team has led, for example, to the resolution of the ten sex chromosomes of the platypus and the discovery of high conservation between the genomes of birds and reptiles. |
| Source | Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, Professor Malcolm Ferguson-Smith (1931-2026) Obituary, 6 February 2026, [URL: https://www.pet.cam.ac.uk/news/professor-malcolm-ferguson-smith-1931-2026; last accessed: 19/03/2026]
The Royal Society Fellows Directory, Professor Malcolm Ferguson-Smith FMedSci FRS, [URL: https://royalsociety.org/people/malcolm-ferguson-smith-11429/; last accessed: 19/03/2026]
Who's Who 2026, Ferguson-Smith, Prof. Malcolm Andrew, 09 March 2026, [URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U15643] |