He has been chancellor during what is generally regarded as the most exciting period in the university’s history, in which it has doubled in size and become a world-renowned centre of scientific teaching and research.

Sir James has had a distinguished career as a physiologist and pharma- cologist, culminating in his award of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1988, which he shared with George Hitchings and Gertrude Elion, for their discoveries of important principles for drug treatment.

The prize was awarded to Sir James for his development of beta-blocker drugs such as propranolol for cardio- vascular treatments, and cimetidine for non-toxic treatment of peptic ulcers.

His discovery of propranolol, when he worked for the drug giants ICI, was revolutionary in medicine in transforming the lives of millions of sufferers of angina and hypertension.

He also pioneered cimetidine, an anti-ulcer preparation known by millions of sufferers around the world as Tagamet, when he worked for Smith Kline & French.

A native of Cowden- beath and educated at Beath High, Sir James graduated from St Andrews University and began an illustrious academic career at Dundee which took him to Malaya and then to Glasgow where he founded the university veterinary school’s physiology department.

He became professor of pharmacology at University College London, director of therapeutic research for the Wellcome Foundation and professor of analytical pharmacology at King’s College London.

He was knighted for services to medical research in 1980 and awarded the Order of Merit in 2000. His honours also include the Royal Medal, Fellowship of the Royal Society, honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Honorary Fellowship of London University.