19 Sept 2025
Professor Maxwell Murray’s colleagues and friends paid tribute to his contributions to the profession, his sense of humour and the positive impact he had on others.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
Maxwell Murray, emeritus professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow, died aged 86.
The funeral for Maxwell Murray, emeritus professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Glasgow, will be held today (Friday 19 September) following his death in August aged 86.
The service will be held at 3:30pm at Clydebank (Dalnottar) Crematorium, Mountblow Road, Clydebank G81 4SL.
For those unable to attend in person, the service will be livestreamed.
Christopher Loughran, head of the university’s School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, paid tribute to him on LinkedIn.
He wrote: “On behalf of the School and as someone who personally benefitted from his unwavering support in my academic career we are deeply saddened by this news – a true Glasgow legend who has inspired a generation of academic researchers and leaders within the veterinary profession.
“Many of us as a community are impoverished by this loss. Our thoughts are with his family.”
Glasgow’s professor of veterinary surgery and remote and rural medicine, Patrick Pollock, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news and paid tribute to him as a leader, mentor and friend.
He wrote on LinkedIn: “His generosity, wisdom, and humour touched everyone who knew him.
“He launched countless careers, championed colleagues at every stage, and embodied the very best of Glasgow veterinary leadership.
“A true one health pioneer, a builder of institutions including the Weipers Centre, and someone who believed deeply in people.
“Beyond that, Max had a wonderful singing voice, threw epic parties, and was a collaborator extraordinaire. He brought people together and made life richer for those around him.”
The honorary senior research fellow was born in 1939. He was a Glasgow alumnus, having graduated BVMS in 1962, PhD in 1968 and DVM in 1970.
In 1975, Prof Murray became senior core scientist at the International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD), in Nairobi, Kenya – a role he held for 10 years.
During that time, he helped to establish the International Trypanotolerance Centre (ITC) in Gambia, which was founded in 1982. He was also a trustee of the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust.
In 1985, he returned to Glasgow to take up the position as head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine.
Prof Murray became the inaugural chair of the Vet School Development Committee at Glasgow, now known as the Vet Fund, in 1989.
He retired in 2003 before being awarded honorary RCVS fellowship in 2014 for his major contributions to research, teaching and international development.
Former BEVA president Sandy Love, professor of equine clinical studies at the University of Glasgow and a mentee of Prof Murray, died just days later.
The university said: “It has been an incredibly sad few weeks for many of us in the school. To lose these titans in such a short timescale has been a huge blow and it would not be understating things to say that the school has been devastated by the loss of these former colleagues.”
The university has been advised Prof Love requested no obituary or funeral.
