Deputy News Editor
Professor Sheila McLean of Law and Ethics in Medicine appointed OBE for services to health and education.
A University of Glasgow professor has made the New Year honours list.
Sheila McLean, professor emerita of Law and Ethics in Medicine, was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the New Year honours list for services to health and education.
The New Year honours list recognises the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the United Kingdom, according to the official government website.
Regarding her honour, McLean stated: “I am, of course, very pleased to receive this honour, and especially pleased that it recognises the importance of my discipline, which had its birth in the UK at the University of Glasgow and is now taught in virtually every law school in the UK.
“I am particularly pleased that the discipline has given my professional colleagues and myself the opportunity to engage with young people in exploring challenging issues and also to undertake work outside of the University, which I hope has been of some benefit to the wider community.
Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal of the University of Glasgow, stated: “I am absolutely delighted that Sheila has been honoured in this way. Her work on medical law and ethics has been outstanding and she is a very worthy recipient. Many congratulations from all of us at the University of Glasgow.”
Born Sheila Black, professor McLean graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1972 with an LL.B before becoming a lecturer at Glasgow in 1975. She was awarded an M.Litt. in 1978 and a Ph.D. in 1989.
McLean became the first appointee to the International Bar Association professor of Law and Ethics in Medicine, which began her career in research, publishing work on consent, reproductive and end of life issues.
Outside of university, McLean has held various external appointments including the current UK representative on UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee and a former vice-chairperson of UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee.
McLean has also been a consultant to the Council of Europe, the World Health Organisation, Council of Canadian Academies, a variety of other international bodies and a legal advisor to the House of Commons and House of Lords.
She has chaired several committees in the UK, such as the Department of Health review of consent provisions in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 between 1997 and 1998, and the inquiry into the retention of organs at postmortem between 2002 and 2003.
McLean’s research is focused on the representation of people of multiple heritage on the stage.