Don Ranney

Don Ranney, a biological scientist, studied anthropology, linguistics and medicine at U of Toronto. With intent to practice leprosy reconstructive surgery in India, he studied surgery in Great Britain, where he married and served briefly as a captain in the British Special Air Service.

With a Fellowship in the Royal College of Surgeons he went with his wife and three children to India. Although there only 4 ½ years, the intense research of an inquisitive mind led to the publication of 15 peer reviewed studies, including two new hand surgery operations. His novel, When Cobras Laugh, describes in a semi-fictitious fashion his struggle for perfection there. After return to Canada, as Associate Professor at U Waterloo, he taught for 24 years and established the School of Anatomy.

Some called him a Renaissance man because of his broad interests and widely disparate areas of expertise. Years earlier, he introduced lacrosse to the children of Toronto, establishing the East Toronto Lacrosse League, and started a jazz band and jazz club in Kingston. While at U Waterloo he obtained a diploma in educational television production at The Banff Centre, researched biomechanics of dance and was team physician for many local and national sports teams including the Canadian Men’s Softball Team that won the Pan-American Gold Medal in 1983.

While teaching anatomy and sports medicine, he published a medical textbook and more than a hundred scientific papers on topics that varied from anatomy, biomechanics, muscle physiology and surgery of the hand to work-related injuries and neuroanatomy of chronic pain. Simultaneously he ran a part-time clinic for athletes and those injured at work or in motor vehicle accidents. He has a diploma from the American Board of Disability Analysts and is a member of 15 varied professional organizations including The Writers’ Union of Canada.