Papers of Alexander John Haddow, 1912-1978, epidemiologist, Professor of Administrative Medicine, University of Glasgow, Scotland, 1971-1978

Scope and Content

  • Biographical Papers, 1972-2000;
  • Research Papers, 1940-1973;
  • Publications, 1942-1977;
  • East African Research Institute Annual Reports, 1950-1970;
  • Photographs, 1940-1970;
  • Subject files, 1940-1978;
  • Correspondence, 1970-1978;
  • Piping Research, 1925-c1980s;
  • Sir Kenneth Calman donation, 1914-c1930s.

Administrative / Biographical History

Alexander John Haddow was born on the  27 December 1912 , son of Alexander and Margaret Blackburn Haddow. He married Margaret Ronald Scott Orr in 1946 and they had two sons. He was educated at Hillhead School, Glasgow, Scotland, before going on to study at the University of Glasgow, obtaining his BSc with First Class Honours in Zoology in 1934. In the following session he was the Strang-Steel research scholar. In 1938, he graduated MB ChB and then held an MRC Junior Research Fellowship in tropical medicine for the next three years.

Alexander Haddow was a key member of the investigative team who originally discovered the Zika virus. In 1942 he moved to Africa to become an entomologist at the Uganda Virus Research Institute, then known as the Yellow Fever Research Institute, Entebbe, Uganda. The Zika virus, discovered in 1947, was named after the Zika forest near the Institute, where it was first isolated from a monkey and shortly afterwards from Aedes africanus mosquitoes. Three years later Haddow became a member of staff with the International Health Division of the Rockerfeller Foundation of New York, United States. He remained with the Foundation until 1949 when he began work for the Overseas Research Service in Uganda. In 1950 he joined The East African Virus Research Institute as an epidemiologist, becoming Acting Director in 1952, and Director in 1953, a post he held until 1965. He was appointed Honorary Professor of Entomology, Makerere College, Kampala, Uganda; a member of the WHO expert panel on viral diseases; and trustee of the Uganda National Parks. During his years in Africa he was awarded the Chalmers Gold Medal of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the degrees of DSc (1957) and MD (1961, honours & the Bellahouston Gold Medal), and the Stewart Prize of the British Medical Association. In 1959 he was awarded the CMG.

In 1965 he returned to Britain and was appointed Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology at the University of Glasgow. He was also the Director of the Cancer Registration Bureau for the West of Scotland, a position he held from 1966 to 1970. In 1970 he was appointed the Titular Professor of Tropical Medicine at the University of Glasgow. The following year he was appointed to the Chair of Administrative Medicine. He remained in this post until 1978 when he retired.

He was awarded the Keith Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, which was followed by his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1972 in recognition of his work on epidemiology of insect borne virus disease, particularly yellow fever and on burkitt lymphoma. Amongst his many interests were whisky, bees and piping. He wrote many tunes for the bagpipes, as well as articles concerning the history of piping.

Alexander John Haddow died on the  26 December 1978 .

Who's Who, (1979 , London)

, Vol. 24, No. 48The College Courant (1972 , Glasgow)

, Vol. 30, No. 61The College Courant (1978 , Glasgow)

Arrangement

Arranged chronologically and/or alphabetically within record series

Access Information

Open

Acquisition Information

Majority of the collection was received prior to the introduction of formal accessioning procedures.

Deposit : Professor Alexander Haddow : c1980 : ACCN 0167

Deposit : David Haddow : 14 Jun 2016 : ACCN 4031

Deposit : Hunterian Museum : 2 Aug 2016 : ACCN 4064

Deposit: David Haddow : 30 Oct 2017 : ACCN 4150

Deposit: Sir Kenneth Calman : 30 Oct 2017 : ACCN 4151

Other Finding Aids

Digital file level list available in searchroom.

Alternative Form Available

No known copies

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

None which affect the use of this material

Conditions Governing Use

Applications for permission to quote should be sent to Archives and Special Collections, email:  library-asc@glasgow.ac.uk  .

Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of documents

Appraisal Information

This material has been appraised in line with standard GB 248 procedures

A collection of 112 audio cassette tapes (formerly catalogued as DC 68/64-67) and their index (DC 68/54), were deacessioned to the Scottish Music Centre in 2006

Custodial History

The majority of the collection was received directly from the creator, however additional items were later accessioned from the Hunterian Museum and members of Alexander Haddow's family.

Accruals

None expected

Related Material

There is a small collection of pencil drawings by Alec Haddow in the Hunterian Art Gallery & Museum collections, please see GLAHA:42532-41; and Haddow's theses are now available electronically through Enlighten:  

 See also:  

Location of Originals

This material is original

Bibliography

No known publications using this material

Additional Information

As part of her Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Doctoral Training internship with Archives & Special Collections Eleanor Tiplady wrote a report on Haddow's papers with relation to the Zika virus.

Fonds description compiled by Hannah Westall, Archive Assistant, 16 May 2000; revised by David Powell, Hub Project Archivist, 26 March 2003; edited by Michelle Kaye, Archives Assistant, 10 July 2012; amended by Kimberley Beasley, Catalogue Retro-Conversion Assistant, 18 February 2016. Collection rearranged and catalogue enhanced by Peter Morphew, Wellcome Trust Project Cataloguer, April-July 2017; amended by Peter Morphew, Archive Cataloguer, 26 Jan 2018.

Geographical Names