15 Facts About Margaret Fairlie

Margaret Fairlie FRCOG FRCSE was a Scottish academic and gynaecologist.

Margaret Fairlie was educated at Arbirlot Public School, the Harris Academy in Dundee, and Skerry's College.

Margaret Fairlie returned to Dundee in 1919 where she ran a consultant practice for gynaecology.

Margaret Fairlie organised follow up clinics at Dundee Royal Infirmary for patients she had treated with radium.

In 1936, Margaret Fairlie became head of Dundee Royal Infirmary's Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department.

Margaret Fairlie held this post until her retirement from both the university and the infirmary in 1956.

Whilst Margaret Fairlie was the first female professor in Scotland, she was not the first Scottish female professor, for example being preceded by Doris Mackinnon and Agnes Marshall Cowan.

Margaret Fairlie never married, although she was engaged to her colleague, the surgeon Professor Lloyd Turton Price at the time of his unexpected death in 1933.

Margaret Fairlie was a popular figure with the students and staff she worked with and was noted for her warm hospitality.

Professor Margaret Fairlie was a keen traveller visiting several countries including South Africa, Greece, Italy, Canada and the United States.

In July 1963 Margaret Fairlie was visiting Florence when she took ill.

In recognition of her achievements, Margaret Fairlie was awarded an honorary degree by the University of St Andrews in 1957.

Margaret Fairlie retained a keen interest in both the University and the Infirmary until her death in 1963.

The professorial board with Margaret Fairlie's name engraved on it is on permanent display in the University in a corridor beside the Archives.

In 2015 it was announced Margaret Fairlie would be one of ten people associated with Dundee to be given a plaque in the city's new Discovery Walk in Slessor Gardens.