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Misia Landau, Matthew McQueen, Clinical Chemistry, Volume 64, Issue 4, 1 April 2018, Pages 624–627, https://doi.org/10.1373/clinchem.2017.281584
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One of the most storied spots on the Glasgow University campus is the chamber devoted to the fine, and often unruly, art of debating. Matthew McQueen entered the richly wood-paneled room to hear his first debate in 1961, soon after arriving to begin his undergraduate studies in medicine. Inspired by that experience, and already passionate about politics, he came back for another debate, this one sponsored by a student organization, the Dialectic Society, for the purpose of attracting new students. McQueen, a complete novice, tossed his hat in the ring. He was a natural. That evening, trophy in hand, he returned home to his parents.
“My father said what I think only a Glasgow father could say. ‘Why son, I've seen bigger highland dancing trophies!’” said McQueen. For McQueen, the effect of debating was dramatic. “Suddenly I was moving in a whole new world,” he said. Over the next few years, he would hone his skills, be selected to join the Glasgow University Union teams, and embark on a journey that took him into debate halls all over Britain. His trajectory reached a peak when he and his debate partner won the most coveted prize in all of British debating, the Observer Mace—one of 18 in Glasgow University's history.
