Heroes and Cultural Identity Project

SCE Heroes - Professor Ian Donald

"Mad Donald"

Professor Ian Donald

Professor Ian Donald was nicknamed "Mad Donald" by his colleagues at the University of Glasgow due to his ideas being too far-fetched! He went on to prove them wrong.

He is my hero for one main reason: When I was to become a mother, I had an ultrasound scan. In that moment I felt an overwhelming amount of love for the little "peanut" waving at me on the screen. Without this man and his research and dedication, that moment may never have happened.

Ian Donald was fascinated with Sonar and Radar technology. He was also extremely dissatisfied with existing methods of examination during pregnancy and knew it would be possible to develop the technology into a useful tool for measuring growth and normal development during pregnancy.

In 1958, Ian Donald successfully detected an ovarian cyst in a woman who had been previously diagnosed with an inoperable cancer of the stomach. He contributed his findings to the medical journal the Lancet.

In 1959, He noticed that clear echoes could be detected from the head of the foetus and he began work to perfect a method of measuring the growth of a foetus. Over the next few years he and his team discovered it was possible to detect potentially life-threatening conditions whilst the baby was still in utero.

Ian Donald's work has saved many lives, both mothers and their unborn children. By assessing conditions before the baby has been born, it is possible to prevent unnecessary deaths and even to perform surgery whilst the baby is still in the womb!

Alison Chrystie is a science student following a one year university access course in biological sciences.