An Annual Oration has been a part of the scientific transactions of the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery since its inception.  The orator, appointed by the President, is a Fellow of the Academy.  Samuel D. Gross, the first President of the Academy, asked John B. Roberts to give the first Oration, but Dr. Roberts insisted that Dr. Gross himself should have the honor.  Dr. Gross gave the First Annual Oration, entitled “John Hunter and his Pupils”, on January 7, 1881.  The Oration is usually given at the December meeting of the Academy and is traditionally presented without formal discussion.  In the 1980’s, the Oration was named the Jonathan E. Rhoads Annual Oration, in honor of one of the most illustrious and faithful Fellows of the Academy, Jonathan E. Rhoads (1907-2002).  Subsequent to this honor, Dr. Rhoads and his family initiated an endowment which enables surgical residents to attend the program during the evening of the Oration.  A consistent presence at the meetings of the Academy well past his retirement, Dr. Rhoads attended the Oration in December, 2001, the last meeting before his death at age 94. 

1881    S. D. Gross

1882    D. Hayes Agnew

1883   William Hunt

1884    John H. Brinton

1885    John H. Packard

1886    R. J. Lewis

1887    J. Ewing Mears

1888    C. B. G. deNancrede

1889    John B. Roberts

1890    DeForest P. Willard

1891    William G. Porter

1892     T.G. Morton

1893    C. W. Dulles

1894    W. B. Hopkins

1895        John B. Deaver

1896    James M. Barton

1897    Thomas R. Neilson

1898    O. H. Allis

1899    William J. Taylor

1900    None

1901    H. R. Wharton

1902    J. M. Spellissy

1903    R. G. LeConte

1904    G. G. Davis

1905      J. Chalmers  DaCosta

1906    Richard H. Harte

1907    Edward Martin

1908    Charles H. Frazier

1909       John H. Gibbon

1910    Astley P. C. Ashurst

1911    John H. Jopson

1912    George C. Ross

1913       William L. Rodman

1914    Alfred C. Wood

1915       Frances T. Stewart

1916    Edward B. Hodge

1917        J. Edwin Sweet

1918    None

1919    None

1920    John G. Clark

1921    J. Torrance Rugh

1922    George P. Muller

1923    Walter Estell Lee

1924    Robert H. Ivy

1925    John Speese

1926         Damon B. Pfeiffer

1927    Emory G. Alexander

1928    Edward J. Klopp

1929        Edward T. Crosson

1930       J. Stewart Rodman

1931    Hubley R. Owen

1932    Eldridge L. Eliason

1933   George M. Dorrance

1934        DeForest P. Willard

1935    A. Bruce Gill

1936   Alexander Randall

1937       Henry P. Brown, Jr

1938    Isidor S. Ravdin

1939       John B. Flick

1940   Francis C. Grant

1941    William Bates

1942    S. Dana Weeder

1943      Frederick A. Bothe

1944    Calvin M. Smyth

1945    Adolph A. Walkling

1946   John H. Gibbon, Jr.

1947    L. Kraeer Ferguson

1948    Jonathan E. Rhoads

1949   Francis C. Grant

1950      W. Emory Burnett

1951    J. Montgomery Deaver

1952   Herbert R. Hawthorne

1953    Julian Johnson

1954    George Rosemond

1955   William H. Erb

1956    George Willauer

1957    Irvin E. Deibert

1958    Orville C. King

1959    James R. Jaeger

1960    H. Taylor Caswell

1961    Donald R. Cooper

1962    John Y. Templeton, III

1963    Edwin W. Shearburn

1964    Henry P. Royster

1965    C. Everett Koop

1966    Kenneth E. Fry

1967    Thomas F. Nealon, Jr.

1968    R. Robert Tyson

1969    H. L. Stahlgren

1970        Brooke Roberts

1971    William T. Fitts, Jr.

1972    James G. Bassett

1973    Lloyd  W. Stevens

1974    Joseph W. Stayman

1975       Charles Fineberg

1976    Leonard Goldman

1978    David Wagner

1979    Frederick Wagner

1980    Clyde Barker

1981    Moreye Nusbaum

1982    Michael O’Connor

1983    Jack Kolff

1984    Simon Simonian

1985    Francis E. Rosato

1986    Bruce E. Jarrell

1987    Robert D. Harwick

1988    Rudolph C. Camishion

1989    Wallace P. Ritchie, Jr.

1990   Dominick A. DeLaurentis

1991    John M. Daly

1992    James L. Weese

1993    Anthony J. Comerota

1994    Ward O. Griffin, Jr.

1996    Stuart Myers

1997    John L. Rombeau

1998    Ed Doolin

1999    Ali Naji

2000    Stanley Trooskin

2001    Michael Acker

2002    Larry R. Kaiser

2003       Stephen P. Dunn

2004    Daniel T. Dempsey

2005    James Mullen

2006    Richard Bell