Postgraduate Dean of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh Sir James David Fraser, 2nd Baronet, FRCS, FRCSEd (19 July 1924 – 8 January 1997) was a Scottish academic surgeon and a foundation professor at the medical school of Southampton, England, when it was established in 1969.

He was the son of Sir John Fraser Bt, who had been Professor of Surgery and then Principal of the University of Edinburgh, and his wife Agnes Govane Herald.

[4] In 1951 he became registrar in the professional surgical unit of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary under Sir James Learmonth, who had succeeded his father as Regius Professor of Surgery.

In 1958 to the surprise of friends and colleagues he resigned, opting to return to the Far East as surgeon to a district hospital in Sarawak, where he had sole responsibility for providing a surgical service to a large population in rural Borneo.

The administrative and teaching qualities which he demonstrated in this post led, in 1969, to his appointment to the Chair of Clinical Science (Surgery) in the newly established medical school of the University of Southampton.

[3] He is commemorated by the Sir James Fraser Travelling Fellowship, which was endowed by his widow and is administered by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.