15,
1934
08,
2019
Dr. David Robertshaw was born January 15, 1934 in Ripon, Yorkshire, England to Dorothy Whitmore and Rawson “Robbie” Robertshaw who started out as dairy farmers. He had two brothers, John (d) and Ryland. He died November 8.
His career spans four continents with a focus on emerging centers of higher education, in most cases it being an unplanned and evolving process.
He obtained his veterinary and PhD degrees from Glasgow University, Scotland. His Ph.D advisor was Sir James Black who won the Nobel Prize for developing Beta Blockers. In Glasgow he met and married Margaret MacRitchie in 1959. He was invited to do research in Kenya, so the newlyweds took a boat for 2 ½ weeks, going through the Suez Canal and sleeping on deck.
He worked in Kenya on three different assignments. His first assignment was studying adaptation of animals to desert environments. His last assignment was as the inaugural professor of veterinary physiology at the new University of Nairobi.
He worked at the Hannah Research Institute in Ayrshire, Scotland. Then became professor of physiology in the Biomedical Sciences program at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University, and joined the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell in 1987 after an appointment at Colorado State University.
In 2000 he transferred to Weill Cornell Medical College and became the founding Associate Dean at the branch campus of the medical college established in Qatar. He retired in 2008 and was subsequently appointed as a Fulbright Specialist, his first assignment being to the new and first university in Nazareth in the Galilee region of Israel.
David lived a life of academic excellence, adventure, service, curiosity, integrity, and faith. His face would light up when he talked about his King Edward VI grammar school, physiology, camels, undergraduates (he loved his time as faculty in residence), friends and colleagues from all over the world, and his partner in all things, Margaret.
Memorial Donations may be sent to Forest Home Chapel, 224 Forest Home Drive, Ithaca, 14850. Services will be at the Country Club of Ithaca, 189 Pleasant Grove Rd. on Tuesday, November 19 at 3 pm.
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SERVICES Memorial Service
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 3:00 PM
Country Club of Ithaca 189 Pleasant Grove Rd. Ithaca, NY 14850
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of David Robertshaw, please visit our flower store.