Department of Zoology

• Student records 1902-1981
• Guides and leaflets 1982-1994

The subject of Zoology was initially taught at Glasgow University as part of the Chair of Natural History which was established in 1807  , its first professor being Lockhart Muirhead ( 1807-1829  ). Notable occupants of the post have included Henry Darwin Rogers ( 1857-1866  ) and John Young . In 1858  Zoology became a compulsory subject for Medical students. In 1876  the Honeyman-Gillespie Lectureship in Geology was established, and Young's assistant, also John Young , was appointed lecturer, giving courses in Zoology and Geology. He was the first to introduce practical classes in Zoology.

After the founding of the Chair of Geology in 1903  , the Chair of Natural History was renamed the Chair of Zoology, with John Graham Kerr ( 1902-1935  ) as the first Professor of Zoology. Zoology had been subordinate to Geology under previous Professors of Natural History, so Kerr was the first person whose chief interest was to teach Zoology at the University. Other notable holders of the Chair have included Edward Hindle ( 1935-1944  ) and Charles Maurice Yonge ( 1944-1965  ). A full list of the University's professors from 1451  to 2001  can be found at http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk/about/publish/elecpubs.html . In 1948  a Lectureship in Taxonomy was established with the appointment of Roy Crowson . In 1965  a second Chair of Zoology was founded, renamed in 1984  the John Graham Kerr Chair of Zoology. However the Chair was not filled until 1979  when Keith Vickerman was appointed. In the late 1970s the administrative role of departmental head was divorced from the appointed Chairs.

In 1994  , the Zoology Department was merged along with ten other former departments, Botany, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics and Biotechnology, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Physical Education and Sports Science, Physiology, Virology, and Anatomy, to form the Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences. This in turn became the Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences in 2000  . Zoology is part of the Environmental and Evolutionary Biology division of the Faculty. Zoology currently involves 20 full-time academic staff, 6 visiting Professors, 12 honorary lecturers, 8 honorary research fellows, 12 postdoctoral research fellows/ research assistants and 51 postgraduate researchers. It has an active research programme in many areas of environmental biology including well established research groups in Ornithology, Fish Biology, Aquatic Ecosystems, Physiological Ecology, Theoretical Ecology and Molecular Ecology and Evolution.

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University of Glasgow

Subfonds level description compiled by Natalie Milne, archives assistant, January 2002  and John O'Brien, archives assistant, October 2002  .