Leiper was born on 17 April 1881 in Witch Road, Kilmarnock, Scotland; the eldest of three children of John Leiper (died 1895), tailor, and his wife, Jessie Aird.[1]
The family moved to England shortly after he was born. He was educated at Warwick School, spending time at the Warwick Technical College to further his studies in science. He spent a year at Mason Science College (which later became the University of Birmingham), matriculating in physics, mathematics, English and Latin. He then entered the University of Glasgow to study medicine, at which he excelled, winning awards such as the John Hunter Medal and the Senior Arnott Prize in the field; graduating in 1904.[1][2]
Leiper was the first professor of helminthology at the University of London and director of the helminthology course at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Leiper worked at LSHTM from 1905 until his retirement in 1947, during his time there he studied under Professor Arthur Looss at the University of Cairo and took part in the Egyptian Government's helminthological survey in Uganda.[3]
^New Scientist. Reed Business Information. 20 April 1961. p. 116. ISSN0262-4079. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
^Manson-Bahr, Sir Philip (1956). London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Memoir II History of the School of Tropical Medicine in London 1899-1949. London: H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd. p. 227.
