Professor Sir Donald Acheson Festschrift
Colleagues and friends of the late Professor Sir Donald Acheson, former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, met to celebrate his contribution to science and the University. Professor Acheson was the first Dean, founding Director of the Medical Research Council's Environmental Epidemiology Unit and was also the UK's Chief Medical Officer for eight years. He passed away on 10 January 2010 at the age of 83.
At the commemoration event, named 'Festschrift' and organised by the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, on Friday 11 February, a series of speakers shared their memories of him and reviewed his contribution to health research. Speakers included former Deans, Professors Jack Howell, Michael Arthur and Sir Charles George, the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Don Nutbeam, the current Dean of Medicine, Professor Iain Cameron and Professor Cyrus Cooper, the Director of the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit.
Sir Donald became Dean of Medicine in October 1968 having joined the University in 1963 as Professor of Clinical Epidemiology. This came at a time when medical education, the organisation of health services and the role of the doctor were under more active and searching review than had occurred for some time. For 10 years Sir Donald led the team that introduced new ideas and a more flexible approach to the undergraduate medical curriculum. During his tenure as Chief Medical Officer, he tackled such health issues as the advent of AIDS and the outbreak of BSE.
In 1997, Sir Donald was commissioned by the new Blair government to chair the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in Health. This led to the publication of the Acheson Report, which called for an increase in benefit for women of childbearing age, expectant mothers, young children and pensioners and said that many people on low incomes had insufficient money to buy the food and services necessary for good health.
Sir Donald also held posts as the Director of the Medical Research Council Unit in Environmental Epidemiology, acting squadron leader in the medical branch of the RAF, President of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Medical Association. He was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (FRCP), Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG).