James McCune Smith Learning Hub

The £90.6 million Learning Hub will be the first building to be delivered through Glasgow University's campus development programme. James McCune Smith was the first African American to be awarded a medical degree from the University in 1837. He was born into slavery in 1813, but was freed by New York State's Emancipation Act on July 4, 1827. After being denied entry to American universities because of his race, he was accepted by Glasgow University’s medical school. McCune Smith went on to gain three qualifications - a bachelor's degree, a master’s degree , and his medical doctorate in 1837. On his return to New York McCune Smith set up a medical practice in lower Manhattan and became recognised as a powerful force for good in the black community.