James Black

Early life and education Black was born on 14 June 1924 in Uddingston, Lanarkshire, the fourth of five sons of a Baptist family which traced its origins to Balquhidder, Perthshire.

After graduating, he stayed at University College to join the physiology department as an assistant lecturer before taking a lecturer position at King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore that later became part of the University of Malaya. and then on to join the University of Glasgow (Veterinary School) where he established the Veterinary Physiology Department and developed an interest in the way adrenaline affects the human heart, particularly in those suffering from angina. The portrait is currently displayed in the foyer of the Sir James Black Centre.

Honours and awards Black was made a Knight Bachelor on 10 February 1981 for services to medical research, receiving the honour from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. and the same year he was awarded the Lasker award.

In 1979, he was awarded the Artois-Baillet Latour Health Prize. Black was awarded the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh in 1980. In 1982 Black was awarded the Wolf Prize in Medicine,

In 1994, he received the Ellison-Cliffe Medal from the Royal Society of Medicine and in 2004 the Royal Medal from the Royal Society. In 2008, he was Awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Medical Futures Innovation Awards, accompanied by his wife Professor Rona Mackie Black, in front of a distinguished audience of one thousand guests.

In the town of Lochgelly, Fife, there is a street called Sir James Black Gait.

On 23 November 2018, the University of Glasgow renamed the West Medical Building in honour of Black. Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: “Sir James was undoubtedly one of the greatest scientists of the modern age. Through his commitment, intellect and insight he achieved a global impact and his discoveries continue to improve the lives of many.” The unveiling of a plaque was attended by Sir James Black’s wife, Professor Rona Mackie Black, emeritus professor and senior research fellow in public health within the university's Institute of Health and Wellbeing.

James Black Place at Ninewells Hospital is named in his honour.

Personal life Black met Hilary Joan Vaughan (1924–1986) at a university ball in 1944 and the couple married in 1946 upon his graduation. He described her as the "mainspring" of his life until she died aged 61 in Surrey. In September 2010 the first chair of medicine at the university was given to Professor Stephen H Gillespie MD, DSc, FRCP (Edin), FRC Path, who left his post as professor of medical microbiology at UCL.