PROFESSOR Lionel Gordon Whitby, FRSE, MA, PhD, MD, FRCP(Lond), FRCP(Ed), FRC Path, was born in 1926 to a distinguished academic family - his father, Sir Lionel Whitby, was Regius Professor of Physics at Cambridge University. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded First-Class Honours in both Part I and Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos.

After graduation he was awarded an MRC scholarship during the period of which he studied riboflavin metabolism while working for his PhD under the supervision of Dr Malcolm Dixon in the biochemistry department at Cambridge. It was only after obtaining his PhD that he turned to medicine, graduating MB, BChir in 1956 after completing his clinical training at the Middlesex Hospital.

After a number of House Officer posts in London, Gordon Whitby went to work at the Hammersmith Hospital in 1958, as a registrar in the chemical patho-logy department.

However, a year after joining the department he was awarded a Rockefeller travelling scholarship in medicine and took

leave of absence for a year to

the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, US. He studied adrenal hormone metabolism in the laboratory of Dr J Axelrod and it was on the basis of this work that he was awarded his MD from Cambridge in 1961. In 1960, only four years after graduating in medicine, he was appointed University Biochemist to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. However, he only stayed in Cambridge for three years this time, as he was appointed, in 1963, to the first Chair in clinical chemistry at Edinburgh University.

Gordon Whitby's major achievements occurred during the 28 years spent in the clinical chemistry Chair in Edinburgh. These achievements were related both to his role as an important figure within the university itself and to that as leader of one of the major clinical chemistry departments in the UK.

Within the university, the catalogue of prestigious offices and memberships of important and influential committees would be too long to present in any detail.

Suffice to say that he served two periods as dean of the faculty of medicine (1969-1972 and 1982-1986), a period as vice-principal (1979-1983), and was a curator of patronage for many years. It is worth noting that, in addition to these important posts in the university, Gordon Whitby gave particular attention to other university work, such as when, for example, he was convener of the sports policy committee.

Outside the university he acted as a trustee of the National Library of Scotland and as a member of the General Medical Council. His character was such that whatever the apparent status of an appointment, once he had accepted a task he gave it his full commitment.

During his

period of tenure of the Chair of clinical chemistry, the subject changed out of all recognition, becoming a major clinical laboratory discipline. Shortly after coming to Edinburgh, he was to the forefront in introducing and assessing new, automated methods for the laboratory diagnosis of disease and in developing the concepts of quality control that all now take for granted. Edinburgh was one of the first centres to introduce computing into the routine laboratory and Gordon Whitby was particularly active in this field. Under his leadership, the department achieved a national reputation for the quality of its clinical and basic research. Many of these achievements have depended on his whole-hearted support for research and his efforts in securing the necessary equipment, space and technical support.

On the personal front, he was in many ways rather reserved, and close friendships took time to develop. However, all who came to know him well came to value his judgment in the sure knowledge of his total integrity and lack of guile. His meticulous care and attention given to all problems and the unwillingness to compromise on matters of principle occasionally gave rise to a degree of irritation in others given to a more pragmatic approach. Yet it is these qualities which allowed him to undertake and achieve so much for the university and the Health Service and why, when a carefully researched, unbiased report into a topic of current or controversial interest had to be produced to a deadline, Gordon Whitby's was often the first name that sprang to mind.

Gordon Whitby's retiral marked the end of an era in clinical chemistry in general and in Edinburgh in particular. Subsequent holders of Chairs of clinical chemistry were generally of a different mould, less concerned with the practicalities of laboratory management or even with the use of chemical tests in routine diagnosis and management of disease, but rather with more basic aspects of research biochemistry as related to disease in man.

Gordon Whitby is survived by his wife, Joan, and three children - Anne, Michael, and Pamela.