Al Jonsen, Pioneer Bioethicist

At the University of California, San Francisco, Al Jonsen became one of the first professors of
bioethics in a medical school.  He pioneered the teaching of bioethics to medical students, residents,
and faculty members and organized a course on medical ethics that became a requirement for all
medical students.  Prof. Jonsen started his academic career as a Jesuit, teaching moral theology and
ethics at the University of San Francisco, then served as the President of the University of San
Francisco. He was a member of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subject of
Biomedical and Behavioral Research, where he was a co-author of the Belmont Report.  He also served
on the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethics in Medicine.  He is a member of the Institute of
Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Ethics in Medicine,
University of Washington and Co-director, Program in Medicine and Human Values, California Pacific
Medical Center, San Francisco. 

Tom Beauchamp
Tom L. Beauchamp joined the faculty of the Philosophy Department at Georgetown University in
1970, and in the mid-70s he accepted a joint appointment at Kennedy Institute of Ethics.  In 1976, he
joined the staff of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and
Behavioral Research, where he wrote the bulk of The Belmont Report (1978). 
              Beauchamp is the co-author (with James Childress) of Principles of Biomedical Ethics
(Oxford U. P., lst edn. 1979; 6th edn. 2009), the co-author (with Ruth Faden) of A History and Theory
of Informed Consent (Oxford U. P., 1986), and co-author (with Alex Rosenberg) of Hume and the
Problem of Causation (Oxford U. P., 1981).  His book Philosophical Ethics (McGraw Hill, 1st edn.
1982; 3rd edn. 2001) is a widely used textbook for college courses in Ethics.  It was the first text in
general ethical theory to meld cases studies with ethical theory.
              Beauchamp is one of three editors (together with David Fate Norton and M. A. Stewart) of the
Clarendon Hume, a critical edition of the works of David Hume under continuous publication by
Clarendon Press, Oxford.  Beauchamp has himself issued three volumes in the Clarendon Hume (and
two additional student volumes prepared for classroom use).  All deal with Hume's theories of human
nature, the limits of knowledge, moral philosophy, moral psychology, and philosophy of religion, based
on Hume's works An Enquiry concerning the Principles of Morals, An Enquiry concerning Human
Understanding, A Dissertation on the Passions, and The Natural History of Religion. His co-authored
book Hume and the Problem of Causation (Oxford University Press, 1981) has been widely discussed
in the Hume literature.
              In 2004 Beauchamp was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society of
Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) in recognition of outstanding contributions and significant
publications in bioethics and the humanities.  In 2003, he was presented Georgetown University’s
Career Recognition Award, which is awarded to a faculty member in the university each year for
distinguished research across an entire career.  Earlier, in 1994, Indiana University awarded
Beauchamp its “Memorial Award for Furthering Greater Understanding and Exchange of Opinions
between the Professions of Law and Medicine.”