| Administrative History | Matthew Hay was born in Slamannan, Stirlingshire, in 1856, and educated at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities. He graduated MB from Glasgow in 1878, then travelled to study in Strasburg, Berlin and Munich. On his return he graduated MD from Edinburgh University in 1881. From 1878 to 1883 he held the post of Assistant Professor of Materia Medica at Edinburgh, but in 1883 he accepted the Chair of Forensic Medicine at Aberdeen University. Though he was offered posts abroad, he chose to stay in Aberdeen for the rest of his career. In keeping with the traditions of forensic medicine, he also lectured on public health, hygiene and medical jurisprudence, and was also an authority on physiology. In 1914 he was elected president of the State Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence section of the British Medical Association. He held the post of Medical Officer of Health for Aberdeen from 1888 to 1923: during this tenure he instigated both the Maternity & Child Welfare Scheme and the Joint Hospitals Scheme, which aimed to bring on to one site all the important hospitals in Aberdeen in order to pool resources. Building began on a site he had found in 1926. In 1922 he tried to resign from the post of Medical Officer for Health on the grounds of ill health: his resignation was refused, but a period of sabbatical was granted. The following year he succeeded in resigning not only from that but also from the post of convener of the Finance Committee on the University Court. He resigned from the Chair of Forensic Medicine in 1926, and died at his home in Aberdeen in 1932. |