# List of presidents of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine

This is a list of presidents of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine (SSHM).

## 1948–1960

Table featuring presidents of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine :
| Year | Name | Comments |
| 1948 | Douglas Guthrie (1885–1975) | Otolaryngologist and historian of medicine whose book, A History of Medicine published in 1945, came to international attention. In 1948 Guthrie brought about the foundation of the SSHM and served as its first president. Subsequently, he became president of the British Society for the History of Medicine and the History of Medicine Society at the Royal Society of Medicine. |
| 1951 | John Ritchie (1882–1959) | Friend of Guthrie, he co-founded the SSHM and contributed to the journal Medical History, which the society co-established in 1957. |
| 1954 | Archibald Goodall (1915–1963) | Surgeon and honorary librarian at the University of Glasgow, and co-founder of the SSHM. He was the first member from Glasgow. |
| 1957 | William Smith Mitchell (d. 1982) | Mitchell became librarian at King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne, and then at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 1955, he authored a History of Scottish Bookbinding, 1432–1650. |
| 1960 | Adam Patrick (1883–1970) | Patrick was lecturer on the history of medicine at St. Andrews University in 1950. |

## 1963–1980

Table featuring presidents of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine :
| Year | Name | Comments |
| 1963 | Charles Henry Kemball (1889–1964) | |
| 1964 | William Alister Alexander (1890–1976) | |
| 1966 | Norman McOmish Dott, CBE (1897–1973) | The first holder of the Chair of Neurological Surgery at the University of Edinburgh. |
| 1968 | Meredith Davison (1911–1970) | |
| 1971 | Thomas Robert Rushton Todd (1895–1975) | |
| 1974 | Charles Gray Drummond (d 1985) | |
| 1977 | Haldane Philp Tait (1911–1990) | Tait was the Principal Medical Officer for the Child Health Service, Edinburgh and co-founder of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine, and as a result of his contributions became its President in 1977 and Honorary President in 1981. |
| 1979 | Sir Charles Illingworth, CBE (1900–1990) | |

## 1981-2000

Table featuring presidents of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine :
| Year | Name | Comments |
| 1981 | William Cunningham (1903–1998) | |
| 1984 | Alastair Hugh Bailey Masson (1925–2009) | |
| 1987 | David A. G. Waddell (1927–1992) | |
| 1990 | John Blair OBE (1928– 2023) | Scottish consultant surgeon and medical historian, who authored a number of books. |
| 1993 | Elizabeth Margaret Rose (1916–2011) | |
| 1995 | Harold Thomas Swan (1922–2011) | |
| 1998 | John McColl Forrester (1923–2017) | |

## 2000-2019

Table featuring presidents of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine :
| Year | Name | Comments |
| 2001 | David John Wright (1944–) | Wright is a retired consultant anaesthetist who was also the president of the British Society for the History of Medicine from 2007 to 2009. He has been editor of the International Society for the History of Medicine's journal Vesalius. |
| 2004 | Bryan Ashworth (1929–2012) | |
| 2007 | Roy Miller (1935–) | |
| 2010 | David Hugh Aird Boyd (1927–) | |
| 2013 | Antony Robert Butler | |
| 2017 | Niall Diarmid Campbell Finlayson | Finlayson was appointed consultant physician and gastroenterologist at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in 1973. His special interest is in liver disease and he made particular contributions to the Infirmary's 'Liver Transplant Unit'. |
| 2019 | Neil MacGillivray | |
| 2022 | Andreas Demetriades | |