Sir John Young Walker MacAlister (10 May 1856 – 1 December 1925) was a Scottish journalist, editor, librarian, and promoter of medical postgraduate education.

[1] John Y. W. MacAlister was educated at the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and at the University of Edinburgh.

He studied medicine for three years at the University of Edinburgh, but ill-health prevented him from completing his medical education.

[2] In 1887, MacAlister was appointed Librarian of the newly founded Gladstone Library of the National Liberal Club.

However, after only a few months, he was elected on 9 August 1887, Resident Librarian of the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society (RMCS) — the forerunner of the RMS.