As an academic lawyer, Ian Kennedy was a pioneer in the establishment of medical law and ethics as a discipline in its own right. He was invited to deliver the BBC 1980 Reith Lectures on the subject. He has written leading works in the field and founded an internationally recognised centre for research and graduate teaching. While at King's College London, he was Dean and Head of the Law School, Chairman of the College's Research Committee and a member of the College Committee, the College's Executive Committee. He was also Director of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics for over 20 years. Ian Kennedy's contribution to scholarship and public policy has been recognised by his knighthood, election as a Fellow of the British Academy, election as an Honorary Bencher of the Inner Temple, appointment as an Honorary QC, Fellowships at two London Colleges, (UCL and King's), Honorary Doctorates in Science (Glasgow), Medicine (Birmingham), and Public Policy (York), and Honorary Fellowships in six Medical Royal Colleges.