Background

Each year the Centre for Exercise Nutrition and Health Sciences are pleased to celebrate the life and work of Professor Jerry Morris with our public memorial lecture. The lecture also provides an opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of our graduating students from our MSc Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health, and to present awards to our prizewinning students.

Professor Morris was born in Liverpool in 1910. Educated in Glasgow and London, after spending time in the Department of Public Health in Nottingham he spent much of the war in the Royal Army Medical Corp in India. In 1948 Professor Morris became the Director of the Medical Research Council’s Social Medicine Unit which in 1967 moved to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). In 1953, Professor Morris and his colleagues began publishing landmark studies on exercise and heart disease which were to open the door for what is now an extensive literature on exercise epidemiology. The most famous study, of London Transport workers, showed that bus conductors (who were physically active climbing the stairs of double decker buses) were at lower risk of CHD than the more sedentary drivers. Professor Morris remained an active member of the Department of Public Health & Policy at the LSHTM, even after he retired in 1975. At the centennial Olympic Games in Sydney he was honoured with a special medal in recognition of his pioneering studies into exercise and heart disease. In his later years, Professor Morris' pet topic was the importance of physical activity and maintenance of physical function in older adults. Sadly, he died in 2009, aged 99.

Professor Morris has inspired many young researchers to pursue careers in both exercise epidemiology and social medicine. In honour of Professor Morris, his scientific contribution to public health, and his phenomenal career, the Centre for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences is pleased to dedicate this annual public lecture in his name.

Here we present an overview of the speakers we have invited to present this lecture over the last few years, including links to lecture material where available: