List of presidents of the History of Medicine Society

This is a list of presidents of the History of Medicine Society of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Numerous distinguished authors and historians became presidents and many more were invited to speak.^[1]

Years	Image	Name	Comments
1912–1913		Sir William Osler[1]	British Canadian, known as "king of pranks", Osler was one of the "big four" founding members of the Johns Hopkins Hospital where he had arrived in 1888 as physician in chief. He is best remembered for establishing the medical residency programme, taking medical students to the bedside, writing major textbooks[2] and whilst in England as Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford, founding the history of medicine section at the RSM in 1912. Raymond Crawfurd described him as a "magnet" in attracting members. Undeterred by opposing Sir Richard Douglas Powell who felt the Society had too many sections already, Osler meticulously planned the establishment of the History section, individually writing to more than 160 potential members. He considered the section one of his better achievements in his later years and his wish was for it to be a common meeting place for "scholars, students and all those who feel that the study of the history of medicine has a value in education".[1]
1913–1916		Sir Norman Moore, 1st Baronet[1]	British physician, lecturer in anatomy and pathology and historian, Moore is best known for his connection with the Royal College of Physicians, GMC and his writings on history of medicine.[3] To his disappointment he did not make the first president as Osler had recommended.[1]
1916–1918		Sir Raymond Henry Payne Crawfurd[4]	Crawfurd graduated in classics from New College, Oxford in 1888, before studying medicine. Primarily physician and lecturer at King's College, he became its medical Dean and major player in moving the hospital to Denmark Hill, for which he was knighted in 1933. Due to chronic illness, he left active medicine and wrote on history of medicine, publications including, The Last Days of Charles II (1909), The King's Evil (1911) and Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art (1914).[5]
1918–1919		Sir D'Arcy Power[6]	Physician at St Bartholemew's, Power was a prolific writer of medical history.[7] He later recalled how the section was "more like a family than an integral part of a great scientific society".[1]
1920–1922		Professor Charles Singer[8]	Physician, pathologist and historian, he was invited to Oxford by William Osler in 1914, later becoming professor in history of medicine at University of London in 1930. One of the original history section members, Singer retained his position as editorial representative for twenty three years and maintained a high quality of the section's publications. He supported refugee scholars fleeing Nazi Europe and is known for his many publications of short histories. He kept a miniature set of traffic lights to control lengths of speakers, switching to red when they became dull or prolonged.[1][9]
1922–1924		Sir Arnold Chaplin[10]	After studying at St. Bartholomew's Hospital Singer's primary appointment was at the City of London Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, where he remained for the next twenty-nine years. He co-authored the textbook on Fibroid Diseases of the Lung, and The Science and Art of Prescribing and wrote The Illness and Death of Napoleon Bonaparte (1913). He loved old books and prints, and became Harveian Librarian at the Royal College of Physicians.[10][11]
1924–1926		John Davy Rolleston[12]	An original member of the Section, he was a member of the council, secretary and president.[13]
1926–1928		Walter G. Spencer[14]	Known as "The Historian of Westminster" by fellow medics
1928–1930		Herbert R. Spencer[15]	Obstetrician who wrote about William Harvey, midwifery and external cephalic version.[15]
1930–1931		Sir Humphry Rolleston[16]	57th president of RSM.[16]

Years	Image	Name	Comments
1931–1933		Robert Oswald Moon[17]	Consulting physician to the National Hospital for Diseases of the Heart and the Royal Waterloo Hospital and a staunch Liberal, and a member of the Reform Club. His main interest was in the classics and was demonstrated in his book on The Relation of Medicine to Philosophy, his Fitzpatrick Lecture before the Royal College of Physicians in 1921 on Hippocrates and his successors. He witnessed "three wars and contested five general elections".[18]
1933–1935		Sir St Clair Thomson[19]	Wrote book Diseases of the Nose and Throat and was president of the Royal Society of Medicine between 1925 and 1927.[19]
1935–1937		Edwin Goodall[20]
1937–1939		Alexander Polycleitos Cawadias[21]
1941–1942		John Frederick Halls Dally[22]	Chest physician[23]
1942–1944		Sir Walter Langdon-Brown[1]
1944–1945		John Frederick Halls Dally[12]
1945–1947		Sir Arthur MacNalty[12]
1947–1948		Hubert James Norman, MB[24]
1948–1950		Edgar Ashworth Underwood	Married Singer's daughter, director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, (1946-1964) & influenced Sir Henry Wellcome's collection. Revised Singer's short history of medicine (1962).[25][26]
1950–1952		Lilian Lindsay[27]
1952–1954		Lord Webb-Johnson[12]
1954–1956		Sir Zachary Cope[28]	Physician and surgeon who wrote a textbook on surgery and the history of medicine. At the jubilee meeting of the section, he pleaded for younger professionals to be involved.[1]
1956–1957		Douglas Guthrie	Guthrie, an ENT surgeon,[12] wrote A History of Medicine (1945), which gained fame following a review by George Bernard Shaw.[29] He gave his presidential address in 1957 when he stated "…it is obvious that history supplies an essential basis of medicine. It gives us ideals to follow, inspirations for our work and hope for the future".[30]
1957–1959		Sir Weldon Dalrymple-Champneys, Bt CB FRCP[12]
1959–1960		Cuthbert Dukes[12]

Years	Image	Name	Comments
1960–1962		Kenneth David Keele[31][12]
1962–1964		William Henry McMenemey[32]
1964–1966		W. S. Copeman[1]	Accomplishing a great deal to promote history of medicine, Copeman attributed the establishment of the faculty of history of medicine and philosophy in 1959 to much of the section's influence.[1]
1966–1968		Henry Cohen, 1st Baron Cohen of Birkenhead[1]
1968–1970		Sir Terence Cawthorne[33]	ENT surgeon at King's College Hospital and various other London hospitals, Cawthorne also became president of the Harveian Society and the Royal Society of Medicine. He was knighted in 1964.[33] In 1968, he was elected president of the section.However, he died before delivering his address.[1]
1970–1972		Kenneth Bryn Thomas[34]
1972–1973		Richard Alfred Hunter[35]
1973–1975		William Hartston[36]	Chest physician and lecturer for DHMSA.[36]
1975–1977		Frederick F Cartwright[37]	Anaesthetist with special interest in Otolaryngology, Cartwright published on history of medicine, became Head of the Department of History of Medicine at King's College Medical School, London and was active at the Faculty of History of Medicine and Philosophy of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.[37]
1977–1979		Alan Waller Woodruff[38]
1979–1981		Peter Maxwell Daniel[39]
1981–1983		Thomas Douglas Whittet[40]
1983–1985		Gweneth Whitteridge[41]
1986–1987		Victor Cornelius Medvei[42]
1987–1988		John M. T. Ford[43]	Actively involved in the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
1988–1989		Alex Sakula[44]
1989–1990		Theodore T. Macadam[45]

Years	Image	Name	Comments
1990–1991		Henry R. Rollin[46]
1991–1992		John R. Kircup[47]
1992–1993		Richard Creese[48]
1993–1994		Denis Dunbar Gibbs[49]
1994–1995		Aileen Adams[50]
1995–1996		Dame Josephine Barnes[6][51]
1996–1997		Elliott E. Philipp[52]
1997–1998		Robin Price
1998–1999		Michael A. Smith
1999–2000		Sir David Innes Williams
2000–2001		Nicholas Cambridge[53]
2001–2002		Neil Weir[54]
2002–2003		Raymond L. Hurt
2003–2004		Gordon Cook[55]
2004–2005		Sue Weir[56]
2005–2006		K. M. N. Kunzru[57]
2006–2007		John Harcup	[58]
2007–2008		Adrian Marston
2008–2009		Jean Guy[59]
2009–2010		Tina Matthews[60]
2010–2011		Claire Elliott[61]
2011–2012		Colin Birt
2012–2013		Richard Pusey[62]
2013–2014		Jennian Geddes[63]
2014–2015		Stanley Gelbier	Emeritus professor of dental public health and honorary professor of the history of dentistry at King's College London. He is a former curator of the British Dental Association's museum.[64]
2015–2016		David Siegler[65][66]
2016–2017		Julie Papworth[67]
2017–2018		Catherine Sarraf[67]
2019–2020		Stephen J. Challacombe	Professor of oral medicine at King's College in London, best known for research in oromucosal immunology and for developing the Challacombe scale for measuring the extent of dryness of the mouth. He led the team that laid out research challenges of global health inequalities and oral health, particularly relating to the oral manifestations of HIV.[68][69]
2020–2021		Tilli Tansey
2021–2022		Sean P. F. Hughes
2022-2023		Christopher Gardner-Thorpe	[70]
2023-2024		Hilary Morris	[71]