Ray Farquharson

Life & Legacy

Ray Fletcher Farquharson (4 August 1897 – 1 June 1965) was a Canadian medical doctor, university professor, and medical researcher. Born in Claude, Ontario, he attended and taught at the University of Toronto for most of his life, and was trained and employed at Toronto General Hospital. With co-researcher Arthur Squires, Farquharson was responsible for the discovery of the Farquharson phenomenon, an important principle of endocrinology, which is that administering external hormones suppresses the natural production of that hormone.
He served in the First and Second World Wars, earning appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his medical work during the latter. He chaired the Penicillin Committee of Canada and served as a medical consultant for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was awarded the Queen's Coronation Medal in 1953 for his work for the Defence Review Board. Farquharson was also a charter member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Farquharson was heavily involved in Canadian medical research and education. As a member of the National Research Council of Canada, his "Farquharson Report" led to the establishment of the Medical Research Council of Canada, of which he was the first president. He received numerous honorary degrees from Canadian universities, and served on the first Board of Governors of York University. He died in 1965, leaving a wife and two daughters. Farquharson was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1998.