Theodore Chalmers (1919-1984) was an exceptional clinician, teacher and leader of UK medicine. Chief amongst his professional achievements was his central role in establishing the University of Cambridge’s School of Clinical Medicine, in a triumph of vision and quiet determination over seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

His career started after graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 1941. He served in the Royal Air Force and became a member of the Royal College of Physicians of London in 1948 and a Fellow in 1965. In 1950 he was awarded a Nuffield Travelling Fellowship and held this at the University of Pennsylvania in 1951. He later became a Senior Lecturer at the Welsh National School of Medicine and then First Assistant to the Professorial Unit at the Middlesex Hospital.

During this latter post, he began a collaboration with the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge, and in 1962 he was appointed to the United Cambridge Hospitals as a Consultant Physician with a special interest in metabolic disorders.

In 1965, he became the Dean of the Cambridge School of Clinical Research and Postgraduate Teaching. After considerable work and effort, Theo successfully established the Cambridge University School of Clinical Medicine in 1975 and was appointed Foundation Dean. He was particularly noted for his support of medical students, and for his tireless efforts to enable those less well represented in the profession to benefit from Cambridge teaching and training.

His death in August 1984 was a significant loss to many grateful patients and students. In recognition of his tireless work and legacy here at Cambridge, this fund has been set up by a group of students taught by Theo during the 1970s. It is intended that the funds given in memory of Theo will recognise clinical school students particularly engaged in improving Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the University and wider community. The School will also be naming a lecture theatre in recognition of his exceptional contribution.