[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_module=”222″ saved_tabs=”all” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][lwp_divi_breadcrumbs home_text=”Alumni in history” font_icon=”5||divi||400″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” module_font=”||||||||” custom_margin=”-20px||||false|false” locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/lwp_divi_breadcrumbs][et_pb_post_title meta=”off” featured_image=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_font=”|700|||||||” title_font_size=”45px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_3,1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Originally from Angus, Fairlie graduated from St Andrews in 1915 with an MBChB. After graduating, Fairlie undertook training in obstetrics and gynaecology at St Mary\u2019s Hospital, Manchester. In 1919, she returned to Dundee, spending the remainder of her career as a consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>Fairlie was the first to implement groundbreaking research to treat gynaecological malignancy in Scotland.<\/p>\n Treating cervical cancers with radium therapy was a breakthrough in the field of gynaecology, following Marie Curie\u2019s discovery of radium. Fairlie learned of these new clinical applications of radium while visiting the Marie Curie Foundation in Paris in 1926. She brought these techniques back to Scotland and used them in her own practice.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Fairlie taught at University College Dundee, then part of St Andrews\u2019 Bute Medical School, for most of her career. She was also a consultant at Dundee Royal Infirmary.<\/p>\n In 1936, she was appointed Head of Midwifery and Gynaecology. While a head of department would usually be given a professorship, this was delayed due to sexist attitudes and bureaucratic tensions between Dundee and St Andrews.<\/p>\n In 1940, Fairlie was officially made Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of St Andrews. Fairlie was the first woman to hold a professorial chair in Scotland, and remained the only female professor in Scotland at her retirement in 1956.<\/p>\n Margaret Fairlie was pioneering in Scotland for her use of radium to treat gynaecological cancers. Her professorship was groundbreaking for all women in academia.<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/medicine.st-andrews.ac.uk\/alumniinhistory\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/82\/2025\/10\/20251014-MargaretFarlie.jpg” title_text=”20251014-MargaretFarlie” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||on||||||” text_font_size=”12px” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n University of Dundee Archives.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first female professor<\/strong><\/h3>\n