The presidents of the British Society for the History of Medicine have been:
1965-1975 Years Name Comments Image11965–1967 Douglas GuthrieIn 1956, Guthrie was elected President of the History of Medicine Section of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) after already having been the President of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine. In 1957, he stated in his presidential address at the RSM "…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". In 1965 he was involved in the founding of the British Society for the History of Medicine and was elected its first President.‘Guthrie, Douglas James’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 12 Sept 2013Dr Douglas Guthrie A distinguished medical historian (Obituaries) The Times Tuesday, 10 June 1975; pg. 18; Issue 59418. 1967 Lord Cohen of Birkenhead 1972Noël Poynter (1908–1979) Librarian then Director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine.
1975-1985 Years Name Comments Image Arthur RookA leading British dermatologist and the principal author of Rook's Textbook of Dermatology (1968). 1984/85 Sir Gordon Wolstenholme
1985-1995 Years Name Comments Image1986 John Cule"British Society for the History of Medicine". British Medical Journal, 11 January 1986, Vol. 292, p. 144. Cule was a Welsh physician who worked as a general practitioner and later as a psychiatrist. In 2005, he was awarded a MBE for his work in mental health in West Wales. He was nominated an honorary member of the SSHM at the 38th congress held in 1986 at Edinburgh."The Thirty Eighth Annual General Meeting". Report of Proceedings Session 1986-87, The Scottish Society of the History of Medicine, p. 1 John Kirkup 1991 Alastair Hugh Bailey Masson (1925–2009)Consultant anaesthetist who authored a number of papers on anaesthesia and medical history."Alastair Hugh Bailey Masson (1925-2009)". The Scottish Society of the History of Medicine Past presidents 1993John Blair Scottish consultant Surgeon and medical historian, who authored a number of books."Student Experiences". Dundee Medical School @ 40, (2007) 1994 David Gardner-Medwin
1995-2005 Years Name Comments Image 2000 Denis Dunbar Gibbs Gibbs was a physician in general medicine and gastroenterology at the London Hospital. 1999 John M. T. Ford 2003 Aileen AdamsAdams is a retired consultant anaesthetist. She worked at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, with a focus on ophthalmic and neuroanaesthesia. In 1985, she was Dean of the Faculty of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. In 1993, she was Hunterian professor in the Royal College of Surgeons and has been a president of the History of Anaesthesia Society. She has also been president of the section of anaesthetics and section of the history of medicine, both at the Royal Society of Medicine.Aileen K. Adams interview. Interview with Dr Max Blythe, recorded in 1996, held in Oxford Brookes' Medical Sciences Video Archive catalogue number MSVA142–32005 John W. K. Ward
2005-2015 Years Name Comments Image2007 David Wright Wright is a retired consultant anaesthetist who was also elected the president of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine in 2001 and has been editor of the International Society for the History of Medicine's journal Vesalius. 2009 Sue Weir 2011 Adrian Thomas Thomas is a retired radiologist who became interested in the history of radiology when he was a registrar at Hammersmith Hospital. He has been a visiting professor at Canterbury Christ Church University, president of the Radiology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine and honorary historian to the British Institute of Radiology. 2013 Peter Homan
2015-2026 Years Name Comments Image2015 Iain Macintyre"Past and President". Surgeons ’News December 2015, www.rcsed.ac.uk, p. 27. Surgeon to the Queen in Scotland until his retirement in 2004, Macintyre graduated in medicine from Edinburgh University and stayed in Edinburgh throughout his surgical career. During the 500th anniversary celebration of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, he was its vice president. 2017 Chris Derrett A Durham University graduate in applied physics, Derrett worked at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Air Pollution Research Unit. He later gained a degree in medicine from the Royal Free School of Medicine and became a general practitioner (GP), GP trainer, appraiser, senior clinical lecturer at Bart's and the London School of Medicine and Head of GP Development for City and Hackney Primary Care Trust.Tansey, Tilli (2016), 2019 Mike Collins A graduate of Galway University, Collins worked as a consultant radiologist in Sheffield until his retirement. His history of medicine interests include the early use of X-Rays, the First World War, Sir William Wilde and lead poisoning.The New BSHM Officers; The Vice President: Dr Michael Collins. British Society for the History of Medicine Newsletter, No. 10 (December 2017). 2021 Mike Davidson 2023 Edward Wawrzynczak 2025 Hilary Morris
See also British Society for the History of Medicine List of presidents of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine Poynter Lecture
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