Kenneth David MacRae

An iconoclastic clear thinker in epidemiology and medical research

Ken MacRae was one of the most exciting medical statisticians and philosophers of his generation. He was a gifted teacher, combining an ability to put across complex concepts with hilarious style, reducing his audience to helpless mirth. He also salvaged countless MD theses. Many distinguished consultants throughout the country owe their higher degrees to his intervention.

He was the scourge of the epidemiological establishment, challenging the analysis and interpretation of data on oral contraceptive risk and pertussis vaccine to the fury of …