Robert Douglas Lockhart succeeded Alexander Low (1868 - 1950) as Regius Professor of Anatomy at the University of Aberdeen from 1938 - 1965. An outstanding teacher of Anatomy, he was also author of several academic books, most notably Anatomy of the Human Body which he co-wrote with Gilbert F. Hamilton and Forest William Fyfe, (London: Faber, 1959), and which ran to many editions in several languages. After retirement, he continued his involvement with the University as curator of the Anthropological Museum (now Marischal Museum) at Marischal College, travelling widely and adding many items to the collections there. He was a long-standing member of the Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society, serving as president for 1951. Outside of work, he had a consuming passion for rhododendrons, on which he was an acknowledged authority, and of which he successfully cultivated a new variety, Elizabeth Lockhart, which was named after his mother. In his will he left bequests to the University of Aberdeen, the Aberdeen Medico-Chirurgical Society and a number of other local charities and organisations.
From the guide to the Papers of Professor R.D. Lockhart, 20th century, (University of Aberdeen)