Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 15, 2026

Edwin Stevens Lecture

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.

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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 1970.12 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.1 In 1967, a committee to discuss "lectures for the laity" was formed.1 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.12 The lectures became successful and Stevens donated a further £50,000 in 1973 and made the lecture series permanent.1

Royal Society of Medicine 1 Wimpole Street source ↗

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.1
1971 'Unreason in an age of reason' Griffith Edwards3
1972 'The Disease of Crime - Punishment Or Treatment?' Sir Robert Mark and Peter Scott4 Peter scott (1954)
1973 'The Doctor's Role - Truth or Mystery ? [and] The Doctor's Place in a Permissive Society'5 Arnold Goodman, Baron Goodman2 MP Leo Abse took part in the subsequent discussion.6
1974 'Doctors and patients' Solly Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman2 7
1975 'Air pollution and public health – a personal appraisal' Patrick J. Lawther8 Professor of Environmental and Preventive Medicine, University of London8 He set up the Medical Research Council (MRC) air pollution unit at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School.9
1976 'On dying and dying well. Moral and spiritual aspects'1011 Donald Coggan DD, Archbishop of Canterbury12 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."13 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.14
1977 'The future of our society' Jo Grimond15
1979 'Health at any price'16 Kingman Brewster Jr.16
1980 'Law, ethics and authority' Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone2

1981-1990

Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image
1981 'The Brandt report - restoring the health of the world economy' Edward Heath2
1982 'The hope of the disabled person' Gp Capt Leonard Cheshire VC & Sue Ryder, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw2
1983 'Thoughts of a doctor's son' Cardinal Basil Hume2
1985 Oliver Franks, Baron Franks2
1986 'Cancer: a preventable disease?' Sir Richard Doll2 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."17
1987 'AIDS' Sir Donald Acheson218 Introduced by Sir Gordon Robson, president of the RSM.19
1988 'The implications of genetic engineering for medical practice' Professor Sir David Weatherall2
1989 'Medical negligence - the mounting dilemma' John Havard2 Being secretary of the British Medical Association and having qualified in law and medicine, Havard spoke on medical negligence.20
1990 'Medical mumbo jumbo - traditional healers protecting their status' Anne, Princess Royal2

1991-2000

Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image
1991 'Ecological hazards of climate change' Sir Crispin Tickell2
1992 Lady Justice Butler-Sloss2
1993 'Euthanasia: Death, Dying and the medical duty' Ludovic Kennedy221 In his lecture he quoted the Pope's views and described it as 'medieval in its thinking and barbaric in its lack of compassion'.22
1994 'Mental illness and Society'23 Anthony Clare23
1995 Lord Justice Balcombe2
1996 'The defeat of deafness'24 Lord Ashley of Stoke24 In his mid-forties following an ear operation, he became deaf.24
1998 'Human reproductive cloning- a look at the arguments against it and a rejection of most of them' Professor Raanan Gillon25 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.2627
2000 Sir Kenneth Calman2

2001-2010

Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image
2001 'Safe surgery – the press, the politicians and the public' Sir Barry Jackson2
2002 'Advising on the Care of Patients with dementia' Professor David Jolley2
2003 'Assisted Reproduction or Forced Conception: Where draw the line?' Professor Robert Winston, Lord Winston2
2004 'The origins of the NHS and future development ' Michael Portillo MP 228
2005 'Genetic Fingerprinting' Professor Sir Alec Jeffreys2
2006 'Law, ethics and the genome' Helena Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws2
2007 'Mishaps in Medicine: will we ever learn?' Professor Sir John Lilleyman2
2008 'The Medical Profession in the 21st Century' Professor Graeme Catto2
2009 'Fairness in end of life care: quality, quantity or both? Professor Ilora Finlay, Baroness Finlay of Llandaff2
2010 'Balancing cost and effectiveness in healthcare'29 Professor Sir Michael Rawlins2

2011-2025

Years Lecture Lecturer Comments Image
2011 'Pancreatic Cancer: challenges and hopes'30 Professor Robin Williamson2
2012 'Dementia' Professor Martin Rossor2
2013 'A journey through your prostate' Professor Roger Kirby2
2014 'The Future of Cardiovascular Medicine' Professor Anders Hamsten2
2015 'Bio-Materials: an Armamentarium in Surgical Reconstruction, Innovations and Solutions' Professor Alan C. Roberts2
2016 'Medical Ethics' Professor Sir Terence Stephenson2
2017 'Skin cancer and sun addiction' Dr Christopher Rowland Payne2
2018 'Harnessing the gastrointestinal tract' Rachel Batterham31
2019 'The NHS and Society' Sir Simon Stevens
2021 'The future of surgical robotics, the future is surgical robotics?' Ben Challacombe3233
2022
2023 Matthew Taylor34
2024
2025 Sir James Mackey
References

References

  1. Hunting, Penelope (2002). "9. From endocrinology to primary health care". The History of The Royal Society of Medicine. Royal Society of Medicine Press. pp. 395–396. ISBN 1-85315-497-0.
  2. Previous Stevens Lecturers. Royal Society of Medicine archives: Royal Society of Medicine. 2019.
  3. "Professor Griffith Edwards, CBE". www.kcl.ac.uk. King’s College London. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  4. Mark, Robert; Scott, Peter Duncan (1972). The Disease of Crime - Punishment Or Treatment?. Royal Society of Medicine. ISBN 978-0-9501555-3-1.
  5. The doctor's role - truth or mystery. Royal Society of Medicine. 1974. ISBN 978-0-9501555-6-2. OCLC 4182229.
  6. The Solicitors' Journal. 1973.
  7. Krohn, P. L. (1995). "Solly Zuckerman Baron Zuckerman, of Burnham Thorpe, O. M., K. C. B. 30 May 1904-1 April 1993". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 41: 577–598. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1995.0034. ISSN 0080-4606. JSTOR 770163. PMID 11615365. S2CID 11499508.
  8. "Professor Patrick Lawther: authority on environmental medicine". Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  9. 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
  10. Coggan, H. D. (February 1977). "Edwin Stevens Lecture. On dying and dying well. Moral and spiritual aspects". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 70 (2): 75–81. doi:10.1177/003591577707000205. ISSN 0035-9157. PMC 1542954. PMID 859817.
  11. Coggan, Donald (1977). "On Dying and Dying Well: Extracts from the Edwin Stevens Lecture". Journal of Medical Ethics. 3 (2): 57–60. doi:10.1136/jme.3.2.57. ISSN 0306-6800. JSTOR 27715623. PMC 1154555. PMID 874979.
  12. Richardson, J (February 1977). "Edwin Stevens Lecture. On dying and dying well. Medical aspects". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 70 (2): 71–73. doi:10.1177/003591577707000203. ISSN 0035-9157. PMC 1542931. PMID 859815.
  13. Jennett, B. (28 November 1992). "Letting vegetative patients die". British Medical Journal. 305 (6865): 1305–1306. doi:10.1136/bmj.305.6865.1305. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1883858. PMID 1303651.
  14. Reynolds, L A; Tansey, E M. (2007). Medical Ethics Education in Britain, 1963-1993 | The History of Modern Biomedicine (PDF). Wellcome trust centre. pp. 92–95. ISBN 978-085484-1134.
  15. Grimond, J (September 1977). "Edwin Stevens Lecture. The future of our society". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. 70 (9): 602–610. doi:10.1177/003591577707000903. ISSN 0035-9157. PMC 1543374. PMID 918080.
  16. Journal of the Indiana State Medical Association. 1980. pp. 74–78.
  17. "Cancer Patients (Treatment and Care) (Hansard, 13 March 1987)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  18. "Papers of Sir Donald Acheson's
  19. "Society news". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. Vol. 80, June 1987, pp. 392-393
  20. Delamothe, T. (21 January 1989). "News". British Medical Journal. 298 (6667): 141–142. doi:10.1136/bmj.298.6667.141. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1835505. PMID 2493833.
  21. Keown, John (1997). "9. Extracts from the House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics". Euthanasia Examined: Ethical, Clinical and Legal Perspectives. Cambridge University Press. p. 97. ISBN 0-521-45141-8.
  22. "Euthanasia: Death, Dying and the Medical Duty". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 89: 722–723. December 1996. doi:10.1177/014107689608901222. S2CID 73819177.
  23. Kelly, Brendan; Houston, Muiris (2020). Psychiatrist in the Chair: The Official Biography of Anthony Clare. Co. Kildare: Merrion Press. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-78537-331-2.
  24. Stoke, Lord Ashley Of (April 1997). "The Defeat of Deafness". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 90 (4): 183–186. doi:10.1177/014107689709000402. ISSN 0141-0768. PMC 1296212. PMID 9155750.
  25. Gillon, Raanan (1 June 1998). "Human reproductive cloning-a look at the arguments againstit and a rejection of most of them". Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 92 (1): 3–12. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.916.279. doi:10.1177/014107689909200103. PMC 1297029. PMID 10319028.
  26. Hench, Larry L. (2001). Science, Faith And Ethics. London: Imperial College Press. p. 144. ISBN 1-86094-219-9.
  27. "Lords Chamber - Wednesday 28 April 1999 - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  28. "Michael Portillo • The Official Website • Gallery •". www.michaelportillo.co.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  29. "Stevens Lecture: Balancing Cost and Effectiveness in Healthcare · British Universities Film & Video Council". bufvc.ac.uk. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  30. "Pancreatic Cancer: Challenges and Hopes - ecancer". ecancer.org. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  31. "Professor Rachel Batterham | Obesity Update". www.obesityupdate.org. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  32. "The future of surgical robotics, the future is surgical robotics? 2021 Stevens lecture". www.rsm.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  33. "2021 Stevens Lecture: The future of surgical robotics; the future is surgical robotics?". youtube. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  34. "Matthew Taylor's speech to the RSM's Stevens lecture 2023 | NHS Confederation". www.nhsconfed.org. Retrieved 21 November 2025.
External links