*2002 " The Kalahari Typing School for Men" *1998 "The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency" In June 2007 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws at a ceremony celebrating the tercentenary of Edinburgh University's School of Law. He was appointed a CBE in the December 2006 New Year's Honours List. He is also the author of a testimonial in " The Future of the NHS" (2006) (ISBN 1-85811-369-5) edited by Dr Michelle Tempest. He is an amateur bassoonist, and co-founder of. Due to his late success as a writer these other commitments could not be continued. He is the former chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee (until 2002), the former vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the United Kingdom, and a former member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO. He retains a further involvement with the University of Edinburgh in relation to the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He was sometime Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and is now Emeritus Professor at its School of Law. After returning to southern Africa to teach law at the University of Botswana, he returned once more to Edinburgh, where he lives today with his wife, Elizabeth (an Edinburgh physician), and their two daughters Lucy and Emily. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Series.īorn in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, Alexander McCall Smith was educated at CBC Bulawayo before moving to Scotland to study law at the University of Edinburgh. He has since become internationally known as a writer of fiction, most widely known as the creator of the The No. In the late 20th century McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees concerned with these issues. Birth_date = birth date and age|1948|08|24īirth_place = Bulawayo, Southern RhodesiaĪlexander (R.A.A.) "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, (born August 24, 1948) is a Zimbabwean-born British writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.