Ian Dunlop Melville was born in Glasgow and attended Shawlands Academy during the Second World War. He was headmaster and won a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Glasgow, graduating with honours. In 1954 he returned to the city with his young family after serving as a doctor in the Royal Air Force. After junior posts at the Glasgow Hospital and the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in Queen Square, London, he was appointed consultant neurologist in 1965 at the newly formed Institute of Neurological Sciences in Glasgow. The institute brought together doctors from several specialties related to the nervous system and became a model for other organizations. Jeho kariéra bola klinicky a vedecky výnimočná a jeho neurologický názor bol veľmi žiadaný. As an Honorary Clinical Educator at the University of Glasgow, he made a significant contribution.