Sir Arnold Burgen was a Lecturer in Pharmacology, Middlesex Hospital Medical School; Professor of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada and Professor of Pharmacology, Cambridge University.He was formerly the Director of the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, Fellow and Honorary Fellow, Downing College, Cambridge, and Master of Darwin College, Cambridge.
Burgen holds Honorary Degrees from McGill, Zurich, Liverpool, Surrey, Utrecht, and Leeds. His work focused on the mechanisms of drug recognition and action at receptors and Cholinergic neurotransmission.