Arthur Dean Bevan, 1861-1943

CAMA Historical Figures/Facilities Project

Arthur Dean Bevan, 1930
From the RG44000 Photograph Collection
Rush University Medical Center Archives, Chicago, Ill.

Surgeon Arthur Dean Bevan was born in Chicago, Ill., 1861. Bevan graduated from Rush Medical College in 1883. He became a professor of anatomy at Rush Medical College, 1887; associate professor of surgery, 1889; and professor of surgery, 1902. He succeeded Nicholas Senn as head of the surgical department at Rush and Presbyterian Hospital in 1907. He held these positions until his retirement from medicine in 1934.  Bevan held many positions in several medical organizations. From 1904 through 1928, he was chairman of the American Medical Association's Council on Medical Education. Through his leadership the council did much to standardize medical education in the country. Bevan wrote a number of professional papers on a wide range of surgical procedures, medical education, anesthesiology, and prohibition. He was the first surgeon to use ethylene-oxygen clinically as an anesthesia, 14 March 1923. Bevan died 10 June 1943. 

Rush University Medical Center Archives

www.lib.rush.edu/archives

The Arthur Dean Bevan Papers, #329, at the Rush University Medical Center Archives include biographical information, correspondence, writings, organizational records, and miscellaneous material. Biographical information includes clippings and bibliographies related to Bevan.  Correspondence includes letters to, from, and about Bevan. A few of the letters relate to medical matters. Writings include articles, addresses, and course lectures written by Bevan concerning his medical research, medical education, medical history, and prohibition. Also included are a few articles written by others, including an interview with Bevan. Organizational records include club by-laws and membership lists for country clubs and other organizations of which Bevan was a member.