Our President in 1996/97 was:
Professor Neil MacCormick
He proposed the Toast to Sir Walter at our 88th Annual Dinner on Friday 1st March 1997 in The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh
Read the text of his address here
Sir Donald Neil MacCormick QC FBA FRSE (27 May 1941 – 5 April 2009) was a Scottish legal philosopher and politician. He was Regius Professor of Public Law and the Law of Nature and Nations at the University of Edinburgh from 1972 until 2008. He was a Member of the European Parliament 1999–2004, member of the Convention on the Future of Europe, and officer of the Scottish National Party.
Text source: Wikipedia
Here is an alternative account of his life by Archie Turnbull
Neil was born in 1941. He went to school at Glasgow High, then to
Brought up in a political context, he has stood as prospective SNP candidate for Argyll since 1990 (and will no doubt stand again in 1996!). He lists his pastimes as hill-walking, sailing, and playing the pipes (and I can testify to his skill in the last).
I invited him to join the Edinburgh University Press Committee of the
Neil has been much involved with the Scottish Convention, but if he has made any enemies I don't know why.
Archie Turnbull (12/02/97)