Biography

James Connor Dornan (5 February 1948 - 15 March 2021) was a Northern Irish obstetrician and gynecologist, ho was also a professor and frequently lectured both nationally and internationally, holding the Chair in Fetal Medicine at Queens University Belfast and that in Health & Life Sciences at the Ulster University. Dornan was born in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland. His father, also Jim, was an accountant who served as the General Manager of the Northern Ireland Institute for the Disabled. His mother, Clare, was the first Occupational Therapist in Northern Ireland.

Dornan attended Bangor Grammar School and from there went on to study medicine at Queen's University Belfast where he was mentored by Harith Lamki, Buster Holland and Ken Houston.

Qualifying in 1973, he did his Houseman's year in the Belfast City Hospital before training in his chosen career. He once considered acting as a career. In 1976, he was seconded to Queens University in Kingston, Canada as a perinatal resident. On returning to Northern Ireland, he rotated around the province to complete his training and obtain an Honours MD from Queens in 1981 for his research into Fetal Breathing. In 1986, he was appointed a consultant Senior Lecturer and subsequently Reader, before he followed Professor Graham Harley at the Royal Maternity Hospital. Dornan continued his research interests while a full-time NHS consultant, a post he retained until his retirement from that service in 2012. He published widely in peer reviewed journals on the subject of assessment of fetal well being.

In 2004, Dornan was elected Senior Vice President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in London, having been on its Council as a Fellow for the previous five years. This was issued with the particular responsibility for developing Global health initiatives. Amongst them was the establishment of an emergency obstetrician that provides lifesaving skills for medics, midwives and nurses in under-resourced countries, while working closely with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine.

Dornan embarked on a project of non-clinical writing with his book, An Everyday Miracle, which was published in September 2013 by Blackstaff Press.

He appeared in the third series of the ITV drama Marcella (2016), which stars Anna Friel. He also played a policeman in The Fall (2013), in which his son Jamie Dornan played a serial killer.
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Father-in-law of actress and composer Amelia Warner.

Father of actor Jamie Dornan and two daughters Liesa and Jessica Dornan.