Resolution adopted by the Senate (4 February 2009) on the retirement of
Professor Robert A Dickson
Robert (Bob) Dickson was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and the University of Edinburgh, qualifying in
Medicine in 1967. He completed his surgical house jobs in Edinburgh, working for Professor ‘JIP’ James and
enjoyed his medical house officer post in Bolton. He became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of
Edinburgh in 1972 and was awarded the degree of Master of Surgery by the University of Edinburgh in 1973
for his thesis concerning the assessment of the rheumatoid hand. After moving to Oxford, where he worked
with Professor Robert Duthie and many other orthopaedic luminaries, he consolidated his conversion from
hand surgery to spinal surgery by working as a spinal fellow for the great Ken Leatherman in Louisville,
Kentucky: his achievements there included an appearance as keyboard player on a Bluegrass album and
visiting surgeon assisting the earthquake victims in Venezuela. After completing his formal surgical training,
he was appointed Reader in Orthopaedic Surgery at Oxford with the clinical duties of a Consultant
Orthopaedic Surgeon.
In 1981 he faced a difficult decision – he was offered the Chair in the famous Spinal Surgery Unit in Hong
Kong and, simultaneously, the Foundation Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery in Leeds. He accepted the
challenge of setting up an academic department in Leeds and rapidly established a spinal research
programme with an eclectic, multidisciplinary approach, building lasting ties with applied mathematics,
statistics, medical imaging and mechanical engineering. Research into spinal deformity translated into
tangible patient benefits: the surgical management of idiopathic scoliosis by the eponymous “Leeds
procedure” was published in the British Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery in 1987 – a journal that now enjoys
his chairmanship of the Editorial Board.
Bob is founder editor of the journal Current Orthopaedics and sits on the editorial boards of seven journals.
He has authored eight textbooks and written over thirty chapters on spinal surgery. A generation of spinal
surgeons have learnt their trade and secured higher degrees under his tutelage: the Leeds spinal alumni are
spread far and wide. His academic prowess has been recognised by most awards available to Orthopaedic
Surgeons, including the Moynihan Prize of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Hunterian Professorship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1984, the Jacksonian Prize from the
English college in 1990 and the Robert Jones Medal from the British Orthopaedic Association in 2002.
Administratively, Bob has stamped his mark on the University in Leeds and in many organisations beyond.
He has served on the University of Leeds Medical School Management Committee, became the Dean of the
Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry and was the appointed member for the Universities of Leeds and Newcastle
on the General Medical Council: for several years, he chaired the GMC Professional Conduct Committee.
He founded and still takes an active role in the administration of the Yorkshire Children’s Spine Foundation, a
charitable trust that supports patients, their families and research into spinal deformity.
Outside of clinical and academic life, Bob enjoys family life, travel, music and the company of a wide circle of
friends. He has a passion for golf, transmitted to his son, Mark (the current captain of the Scottish
Universities Golf team) and evident by his choice of a holiday home in St Andrews. He is an accomplished
jazz pianist and has entertained at many a departmental Christmas party, at home, under the tolerant eye of
his wife Irene and a multitude of colleagues, juniors and their families. Ever the generous host, he is equally
generous with his time and for a man infamous for his sharp wit and outspoken manner, surprisingly tolerant
when dealing with timid trainees and unerringly kind and caring to his patients. We wish him well in his
retirement.