Struther Arnott

{{Infobox officeholder

|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FRS|FRSE|FIBiol|FRSC}}

| name = Struther Arnott

| image = Struther_Arnott.png

| image_size =

| image_upright =

| alt =

| caption =

| order =

|title = Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St Andrews

|term_start = 1986

|term_end = 1999

|chancellor = Sir Kenneth Dover

|predecessor = John Steven Watson

|successor = Brian Lang

| education = Hamilton Academy

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1934|09|25}}

| birth_place = Larkhall, Lanarkshire

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2013|04|20|1934|09|25}}

| death_place =

| alma_mater = University of Glasgow

|module = {{Infobox scientist

|embed = yes

| field = Molecular Biology
Cancer

| workplaces = University of St Andrews
King's College London
Purdue University
University of Oxford

}}

Struther Arnott {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FRS|FRSE|FIBiol|FRSC}} (25 September 1934 – 20 April 2013) was a Scottish molecular biologist and chemist who specialised in cancer research. He was a principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St Andrews.{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/education/ex-st-andrews-university-principal-dies-at-home-1-2905499 |title=Ex-St Andrews University principal dies at home – Education |publisher=Scotsman.com |accessdate=23 April 2013}}[https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/principal-struther-arnott-b-1934-125510 St Andrews University portrait] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150909024707/http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/principal-struther-arnott-b-1934-125510 |date=9 September 2015 }}[http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-608-701-C Portrait]{{cite journal|last1=Arnott|first1=Struther|title=Historical article: DNA polymorphism and the early history of the double helix|journal=Trends in Biochemical Sciences|volume=31|issue=6|year=2006|pages=349–354|issn=0968-0004|doi=10.1016/j.tibs.2006.04.004|pmid=16678428}}"Growing universities: How bad is big? ", Public Money & Management, Volume 12, Issue 3 July 1992, pages 53 – 59

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Education and career

Struther Arnott was born in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, and educated at the Hamilton Academy (1945–52) where in 1952 he received the academy's gold medal for general scholarship and silver medal in chemistry and in mathematics, and from which school he won 5th place overall and 1st science place in the University of Glasgow Open Bursary Competition, 1952.[http://www.bmsg.pharmacy.ac.uk/people/StrutherArnott.html The CRUK Biomolecular Structure Group – biography, Struther Arnott] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910222633/http://www.bmsg.pharmacy.ac.uk/people/StrutherArnott.html |date=10 September 2011 }} Retrieved 20 October 2010

Following graduation (BSc (Chemistry and Mathematics), 1956), followed by PhD (Chemistry), 1960), Struther worked with the Biophysics Unit of King's College London, before his appointment as Professor of Molecular Biology at Purdue University, Indiana.

At Purdue he served as head (chairman) of the Department of Biological Sciences, vice-president for Research and dean of the Graduate School. He returned to the United Kingdom to serve as principal and vice-chancellor at St Andrews from 1986 until his retirement in December 1999.{{citation needed|date= September 2023}}

Awards and honours

He held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford and was a fellow of King's College London.{{cite web|url=http://www1.ic.ac.uk/medicine/people/s.arnott/ |title=Professor Struther Arnott |publisher=.ic.ac.uk |access-date=23 April 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225044048/http://www1.ic.ac.uk/medicine/people/s.arnott/ |archive-date=25 February 2012 }} He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1985,{{cite journal|last1=Rees|first1=Dai|authorlink1=Dai Rees (scientist)|title=Struther Arnott. 25 September 1934 – 20 April 2013|journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society|year=2015|volume=61|issn=0080-4606|doi=10.1098/rsbm.2015.0011|pages=5–22|s2cid=61794891}} and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1988, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996. He was a member of the Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering.{{cite web|url=http://www.sciencecampaign.org.uk/about/who/advisory.htm|title=Advisory Council of the Campaign for Science and Engineering|accessdate=11 February 2011}}