Record

MS 2629 - Alexander Low, Regius Professor of Anatomy: papers

Collection	GB 0231 University of Aberdeen, Special Collections
Level	Fonds
Ref No	MS 2629
Title	Alexander Low, Regius Professor of Anatomy: papers
Date	1923 - 1956
Extent	5 boxes
Creator Name	Alexander Low (1868 - 1950), Regius Professor of Anatomy, University of Aberdeen
Administrative History	Alexander Low was born in Old Machar, Aberdeen, on 7 April 1868. He graduated from the University of Aberdeen MA 1891, M.B., C.M. 1894, MD (highest honours), 1912, and received an honorary LL.D. in 1939. He began working for the University in 1894 as assistant and lecturer in the Department of Anatomy, rising to the post of Regius Professor of Anatomy, 1925 - 1939. His early work on the development of the lower jaw earned him an international reputation, which was strengthened by on-going anthropological research, in particular his detailed and meticulous work on human growth. In his anthropological work, he pioneered the concept of 'longitudinal' research, in which the same subjects are studied over a period of time, and laid the foundations for the highly regarded Aberdeen Growth Study of 1956. An active member of the medical community, Low served as president of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, president of the Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society, director of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, and Governor of the Royal Mental Hospital, Aberdeen. He was also a University member on the Board of the Rowett Institute for Research in Animal Nutrition, and dean of the Medical Faculty, University of Aberdeen. His particular interest in archaeological skeletal remains contributed towards strengthening the scope and quality of such collections held in the University's Anthropological Museum (now Marischal Museum). He died in Aberdeen on 15 Nov 1950. For an appreciation of his life and work see 'Aberdeen University Review' , 34 (1951-1952), 7-10.
Custodial History	Deposited in the University in 1968, ?by the Department of Anthropology
Source	Accessions MS 2629, MSU 1332 and ACC 066
Description	Research papers, including original data for the Aberdeen Growth Study, c 1900 - c 1950; archaeological field reports, principally relating to excavation and measurement of human skelatal remains, 1920s - 1930s; offprints of publications in antiquarian, medical and veterinary science journals, c 1899 - c 1956; printed and photographic material commemorating the University of Aberdeen's Quatercentenary celebrations, 1906.
Access Status	Open
Access Conditions	The records are available, subject to the signed acceptance of the Department's access conditions
Copyright	Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation. Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the University Archivist (e-mail: specialcollections@abdn.ac.uk ) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material
Language	English
Related Material	Papers of Robert Douglas Lockhart, (1894 - 1987), Professor of Anatomy, University of Aberdeen (GB 0231 MS 3270). Professor Lockhart was a co-author of 'Aberdeen Growth Study: I' , in 'Archives of Disease in Childhood' , 3, 159 (1956) and items amongst his papers relate to this work.
Publication Note	Alexander Low, 'Growth of Children: sixty-six boys and sixty girls each measured at three days, and at one, two, three, four, and five years of age' (Aberdeen: University of Aberdeen, 1952); J.M. Tanner and others, 'Aberdeen Growth Study: I' , in 'Archives of Disease in Childhood' , 3, 159 (1956).

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