Person Paton; Sir; William Drummond MacDonald (1917 - 1993); pharmacologist Paton William Drummond MacDonald Sir pharmacologist 1917 - 1993 British Male Hendon, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom 05 May 1917 19170505 13 Staverton Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom 17 October 1993 19931017 Cremation: Oxford crematorium, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

13 Staverton Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom (1993)

Pharmacologist Physiology Pharmacology Education: Miss Unwin's school in St Albans; Winchester House School in Brackley (1927); Repton School (1931-5); New College, Oxford (1935) BA Oxon (1938); MB BCh (1942); MA(1947); DM (1953) Career: Moved to India with his family (1921); returned to England owing to ill health and lived with his maternal grandmother (1923); unfit for military service he took the post of pathologist for two years; joined the physiological laboratory under the direction of G. L. Brown, at the Medical Research Council's research institute in Hampstead, London where he worked on the pharmacology of acetylcholine and its benefits in the control of hypertension; took on joint appointment between the medical unit at University College Hospital and the department of pharmacology at University College, London (1952); chair of pharmacology at Oxford (1959-1984); built up a cannabis research group in Oxford to address unanswered questions about the biological effects of cannabis (1970); acting director of the Wellcome Institute (1984-1989); died of a stroke. Honours: CBE 1968; Kt 1979 Awards/Medalds: Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh 1956 Gairdner Foundation International Award 1959 Memberships: FRCP Physiological Society (Secretary 1954–6) British Pharmacological Society Wellcome trustee 1978–87 Rhodes trustee 1968–87 Research Defence Society (President 1972–8) Parents: William Paton (1886–1943), Presbyterian minister and secretary of the International Missionary Council, and Grace Mackenzie (1887–1967), daughter of the Revd David MacDonald, Presbyterian minister at Bexhill, and private secretary to Ramsay MacDonald. Spouse: (m. 1942) Phoebe Margaret Rooke (b. 1916), hospital almoner. Distinguished for his researches on histamine and methonium compounds. Fellow 15/03/1956 38 Ernest Basil Verney Frank Campbell MacIntosh Bernard Katz Joshua Harold Burn David Whitteridge Marthe Vogt Henry Hallett Dale Harold King Charles Robert Harrington George Lindor Brown Wilhelm Feldberg DNB Obituaries: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 1996 vol 42 pp 289-314, plate, by H P Rang and Lord Perry of Walton International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1996.0019 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/action/doSearch?ContribAuthorRaw=Paton%2C+William+Drummond+Macdonald RCN 15592 RCN 20042 RCN 20043 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH6531 5 May 1917 - 17 Oct 1993 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 18/07/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA2109 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 08/09/2025 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes http://viaf.org/viaf/212463856 b3dd4f89-d4b6-4eb3-b6b0-12e17c61e50d