Professor Lee, Honorary Fellow of the College and one of the foremost ophthalmic pathologists of his generation, died on 3 July at the age of 93. A memorial service was held at St Paul’s Church, Milngavie, on 27 July.
‘Prof’ – as he was known to generations of trainees and colleagues – was born on 14 October 1932 in Sale, Cheshire. He attended William Hulme’s Grammar School in Manchester on a Free Place scholarship before reading medicine at the Victoria University of Manchester. He was the first in his family to attend university. He graduated MB ChB in 1957 and completed his resident training across Manchester, London and Bristol over the following two years.
In 1964, Professor Lee moved with his wife, Noelle, to Glasgow to take up a post as Lecturer in Morbid Anatomy at the University of Glasgow, the start of a lifelong association with the city and its ophthalmic pathology service. He obtained his MRCPath by examination in 1968, the same year he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmic Pathology and Honorary Consultant in Ophthalmic Pathology at the University of Glasgow. He was elected FRCPath in 1978 and, in 1979, appointed Titular Professor of Ophthalmic Pathology, a post he held until his retirement in 1998. He was awarded Emeritus Professor status and Senior Research Fellow status at the University of Glasgow.
Across his career, Prof authored 137 scientific articles. He wrote Ophthalmic Histopathology; co-authored Ophthalmic Pathology: An Illustrated Guide for Clinicians, with Dr K Weng Sehu; and The Eye: Basic Sciences in Practice with Professors John V Forrester, Andrew D Dick and Paul G McMenamin. He edited Current Research in Ophthalmic Electron Microscopy, and contributed chapters to numerous other major texts, including the WHO’s Histological Typing of Tumours of the Eye and its Adnexa.
In 1994, Professor Lee delivered the Doyne Memorial Lecture at the Oxford Congress. His long list of honours included the Claffey Medal, University of Sydney (1983 and 2000); the Ida Mann Medal, University of Oxford (1985); Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (1988); Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1989); the JP Hay Medal, University of Liverpool (1994); the Mackenzie Medal, University of Glasgow (1996); and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to ophthalmic pathology (1996).
Bill understood that a specialty could only flourish if it was supported by a strong professional community where colleagues could share knowledge, collaborate, and inspire one another. Alongside his research and diagnostic work, he devoted considerable energy to creating and sustaining those networks.
A member of the Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland from 1965 to 2000, and of the British Eye Study Group from 1975 to 1985, Professor Lee was a founder member of the British Glaucoma Group in 1980 and, in 1982, co-founded the British Association for Ophthalmic Pathology with Dr John Harry of the Birmingham and Midland Eye Hospital. Bill later served as Secretary for its Glasgow meetings in 1986 and 1997. He was elected to the European Ophthalmic Pathology Society in 1972 and served as its President in 1996.
Professor Lee trained several researchers and clinicians, many of whom went on to become professors and leaders in institutions spanning six continents. His research students and postgraduate trainees came from Turkey, New Zealand, Germany, Korea, Spain, Nigeria, Japan, France, Poland, India, Lebanon, Egypt, Canada, Australia and beyond.
Outside of work, Bill was a keen curler, a member of a male voice choir, and a devoted painter and gardener. He is survived by his wife, Noelle, his two daughters, Alison and Judith, and their families.
With thanks to: Professor Sarah E Coupland, Professor Bertil E Damato, Professor Andrew D Dick, Professor John Forrester, Professor Paul G McMenamin, and Dr Fiona Roberts.