The most important service Linacre conferred upon his own profession and science was the foundation by royal charter of the College of Physicians in London, and he was the first president of the new college, which he further aided by bequeathing to it his own house and library. Shortly before his death, Linacre obtained from the king letters patent for the establishment of readerships in medicine at Oxford and Cambridge, and placed valuable estates in the hands of trustees for their endowment. Two readerships were founded at Merton College, Oxford, and a lecture St John's College, Cambridge. The Oxford foundation was revived by the university commissioners in 1856 in the form of the Linacre professorship of anatomy. At St John's College the funds are still in use today; since 1989 the college has hosted an annual "Linacre Lecture" on a subject in medicine, delivered by a leading research scientist in their field.