MRCS LRCP 1942; MB BS Lond 1942, MD 1951; MRCP 1943, FRCP 1972; MSc Manch 1966; FRCPath 1969.
Collard was educated at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. After two years of house appointements at St James' Hospital Balham and the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Collard joined the RAMC in 1944. He spent two years as a registrar at Westminster Hospital, before gaining a lectureship in bacteriology at Guy's Hospital in 1950, a radical change from his previous neurological experience. In 1954 he was promoted to senior lecturer and was appointed professor of bacteriology for Ibadan University, a position he held until 1962. In 1962 Collard came to Manchester as Professor of Bacteriology and Virology, a position he held until his retirement in 1980. Collard had strong links with medicine in the developing world; he held four visiting professorships, was a consultant for the World Health Authority, and his course attracted many students from developing countries. Collard served as a magistrate in Manchester from 1973 to 1980. Collard was actively involved in the the University of Manchester Settlement and was influential in the foundation of the University International Club. Collard died in 1989.