© By permission of the trustees of the late Benno Schotz RSA
John Boyd Orr, 1st Baron Boyd Orr, 1880 - 1971. Nutritional physiologist
1950
On Display PORTRAIT GALLERY
- Scottish Art
John Boyd Orr was born at Kilmaurs, near Kilmarnock. A biologist specialising in nutrition, he showed the value of milk in the health and growth of children. This led to legistation to provide free milk for all children in Scottish schools. Orr continued to draw attention to the poor diet of the British people and lobbied, unsuccessfuly, for government to take a more active role, with a national food policy linked to agriculture. Orr became the first director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. In 1949 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
