The Edwin Stevens Lecture, also known as the Edwin Stevens Lecture for the Laity or Stevens Lecture, are a series of lectures founded and named for Arthur Edwin Stevens in 1970. Stevens was a successful entrepreneur and member of the library section of the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), London, where the lecture is held every year. In 1967, a committee to discuss "lectures for the laity" was formed. In 1970, at the request of the then president of the History of Medicine Society, Sir Terence Cawthorne, Stevens donated £2,000 a year for the first three years, as a trial. The lectures became successful and Stevens donated a further £50,000 in 1973 and made the lecture series permanent.
Lectures 1970-1980 Years Lecture title Lecturer Comments Image 1970 'The one and the many': two lectures on ethical questions relating to the practice of medicine. Sir Michael Woodruff This was the first lecture in the series. 1971 'Unreason in an age of reason'Griffith Edwards 1972 'The Disease of Crime - Punishment Or Treatment?'Sir Robert Mark and Peter Scott 1973 'The Doctor's Role - Truth or Mystery ? [and] The Doctor's Place in a Permissive Society'Arnold Goodman, Baron Goodman MP Leo Abse took part in the subsequent discussion. 1974 'Doctors and patients'Solly Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman 1975 'Air pollution and public health – a personal appraisal'Patrick J. Lawther Professor of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, University of London He set up the Medical Research Council (MRC) air pollution unit at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School.Seaton, Anthony (November 1996)"Particles in the air: the enigma of urban air pollution". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Vol. 89, p. 604 1976 'On dying and dying well. Moral and spiritual aspects'Donald Coggan DD, Archbishop of Canterbury Coggan was invited by the then president of the RSM, Gordon Wolstenholme. Coggan said in the lecture that it is "misleading to extend the term euthanasia to cover decisions not to preserve life by artificial means when it would be better for the patient to be allowed to die." The lecture subsequently made headlines in the Daily Telegraph, Guardian, The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Mirror, Church Times, Universe, Catholic Herald and The Sunday Times. 1977 'The future of our society'Jo Grimond 1979 'Health at any price'Kingman Brewster Jr. 1980 'Law, ethics and authority'Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone
1981-1990 Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image 1981'The Brandt report - restoring the health of the world economy'Edward Heath 1982'The hope of the disabled person'Gp Capt Leonard Cheshire VC & Sue Ryder, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw 1983'Thoughts of a doctor's son' Cardinal Basil Hume 1985Oliver Franks, Baron Franks 1986'Cancer: a preventable disease?' Sir Richard Doll In 1987, Doll's lecture was mentioned at a house of commons sitting discussing the association of smoking and lung cancer, when Edwina Currie quoted Doll as saying "scientists should take care to distinguish the advice they give that is based on incontrovertible evidence (such as the harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol and asbestos) from that which is based on their assessment of the most likely interpretation of the evidence such as the benefit from increasing the consumption of dietary fibre, vegetables and fruit."1987'AIDS'Sir Donald Acheson"Papers of Sir Donald Acheson's Introduced by Sir Gordon Robson, president of the RSM."Society news". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Vol. 80, June 1987, pp. 392-393 1988'The implications of genetic engineering for medical practice'Professor Sir David Weatherall 1989'Medical negligence - the mounting dilemma' John HavardBeing secretary of the British Medical Association and having qualified in law and medicine, Havard spoke on medical negligence. 1990'Medical mumbo jumbo - traditional healers protecting their status'Anne, Princess Royal
1991-2000 Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image 1991'Ecological hazards of climate change'Sir Crispin Tickell 1992Lady Justice Butler-Sloss 1993'Euthanasia: Death, Dying and the medical duty'Ludovic Kennedy In his lecture he quoted the Pope's views and described it as 'medieval in its thinking and barbaric in its lack of compassion'. 1994'Mental illness and Society'Anthony Clare 1995Lord Justice Balcombe 1996'The defeat of deafness'Lord Ashley of Stoke In his mid-forties following an ear operation, he became deaf. 1998'Human reproductive cloning- a look at the arguments against it and a rejection of most of them' Professor Raanan Gillon At the time, head of the medical ethics unit of the Imperial College School of Medicine, Gillon evaluated the then popular rejection of human reproductive cloning.2000Sir Kenneth Calman
2001-2010 Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image 2001'Safe surgery – the press, the politicians and the public'Sir Barry Jackson 2002'Advising on the Care of Patients with dementia'Professor David Jolley 2003'Assisted Reproduction or Forced Conception: Where draw the line?'Professor Robert Winston, Lord Winston 2004'The origins of the NHS and future development 'Michael Portillo MP 2005'Genetic Fingerprinting'Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys 2006'Law, ethics and the genome'Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws 2007'Mishaps in Medicine: will we ever learn?'Professor Sir John Lilleyman 2008'The Medical Profession in the 21st Century'Professor Graeme Catto 2009'Fairness in end of life care: quality, quantity or both? Professor Ilora Finlay, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff 2010'Balancing cost and effectiveness in healthcare' Professor Sir Michael Rawlins
2011-2025 Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image 2011'Pancreatic Cancer: challenges and hopes' Professor Robin Williamson 2012'Dementia' Professor Martin Rossor 2013'A journey through your prostate' Professor Roger Kirby 2014'The Future of Cardiovascular Medicine' Professor Anders Hamsten 2015'Bio-Materials: an Armamentarium in Surgical Reconstruction, Innovations and Solutions' Professor Alan C. Roberts 2016'Medical Ethics' Professor Sir Terence Stephenson 2017'Skin cancer and sun addiction' Dr Christopher Rowland Payne 2018'Harnessing the gastrointestinal tract' Rachel Batterham 2019'The NHS and Society'Sir Simon Stevens 2021'The future of surgical robotics, the future is surgical robotics?'Ben Challacombe 2022 2023 Matthew Taylor 2024 2025 Sir James Mackey
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