Frank W. Schofield (1889-1970)

Frank Schofield came to Canada from his native England at the age of 18. Working on an Ontario farm kindled his interest in the health of animals, and he soon enrolled in the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC). There he studied contamination in Toronto’s milk supply and traced it back to the farms. This work led to his appointment to the OVC faculty in 1912. Here he stayed, with one important interruption, until 1955.

Dr. Schofield was considered an outstanding veterinarian who was nationally and internationally known for his research in animal disease, in particular sweet clover poisoning of cattle, infections in young animals and viral mink enteritis, which led to improvements in both human and animal health. His systematic research explained bacterial, viral and toxicological ailments, which he found new ways to prevent or treat. He identified the dangers of Escherechia coli and developed Warfarin, still an important anti-coagulant. He authored more than 140 scientific papers and taught three-quarters of Anglophone Canada’s veterinarians of his era.

His other great passion was the democratic development of Korea. In 1916, Schofield answered a call for a devout Christian to teach bacteriology at a college in Seoul. Korea had been recently annexed by Japan and Dr. Schofield became closely involved with the independence movement by documenting the mass jailing, torture and deaths associated with the struggle for Korean sovereignty. The college did not renew his contract, and by 1921 he was back at OVC.

In 1958, Schofield accepted a position at Seoul National University, where his many pro-democratic friends drew him into politics again and he joined the agitation that brought down the post-War president, Syngman Rhee, in 1960. In these years, Schofield was also very active in charitable fundraising. He died in Seoul in 1970.

Through his teaching and prolific writings, Schofield has had a significant impact on the development of veterinarians and veterinary science in Canada, and he received many distinctions. Through his scientific, missionary and political work in Korea, he contributed to the democratic development of that country and is recognized there as a patriot.

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