Andrew L. Warshaw, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), installed as 95th President of the ACS

Andrew L. Warshaw, MD, FACS, FRCSEd(Hon), surgeon-in-chief emeritus, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and the W. Gerald Austen Distinguished Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, was installed as the 95th President of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) during Convocation Ceremonies, which opened the ACS Clinical Congress, Sunday, October 26, at the Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA.

Dr. Warshaw became a Fellow of the College in 1974. Since then, he has served the College in various leadership capacities, including as Chair of the Health Policy and Advocacy Group (2007–2014) and ACS Treasurer (2007–2013). He was also First Vice-President (2004–2005).

Additionally, Dr. Warshaw has served on multiple ACS Board of Regents’ Committees, including the Finance Committee (2007–2013), the Honors Committee (2004–2013), and the Research and Optimal Patient Care Committee (2004–2005). He also served on the ACS Board of Governors (1997–2003) and in that capacity, chaired the Governors’ Committee on Socioeconomic Issues (1999–2003); he continues to serve as an ex officio member of the committee. As a leader of the Governors’ Committee on Socioeconomic Issues, he initiated the creation of the ACS Professional Association’s political action committee (ACSPA-SurgeonsPAC) and the surgical volunteerism activities that have evolved into the ACS Operation Giving Back program (OGB). OGB facilitates domestic and international humanitarian outreach among surgeons of all specialties, at all stages of their careers.

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Warshaw completed his residency training and was a research fellow in gastroenterology at MGH. He also completed a fellowship at the National Institute for Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, and was a clinical associate in the section on gastroenterology of the National Institutes of Health.

Since 1972, he has been on staff at MGH and on the faculty of Harvard Medical School. In 1987, he became professor of surgery at Harvard and, in 1997, the W. Gerald Austen Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, and surgeon-in-chief and chairman of the department of surgery at MGH.

Dr. Warshaw is Past-President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the ACS (1991–1992) and has been an active member of the College’s Women in Surgery Committee (2001–2004), the Surgical Research Committee (1988–1993), the Committee on Video-Based Education (1983–1993), and the Medical Motion Pictures Committee (1985–1989).

Dr. Warshaw is an eminent researcher whose activities have led to significant contributions to the field of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. His clinical interests have centered on diseases of the pancreas and gastrointestinal tract, with a focus on surgical oncology. His efforts in this field have afforded him the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Pancreatic Association, the Ewing Medal from the Society of Surgical Oncology, and the Master Educator Award from the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. He is the founder and director of the Andrew L. Warshaw Institute for Pancreatic Cancer Research at MGH, which develops novel, comprehensive diagnostic and treatment options for pancreatic cancer.

In addition to his leadership within the ACS, Dr. Warshaw has been president of several other surgical societies, including the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, the International Association of Pancreatology, the New England Surgical Society, the Halsted Society, the Boston Surgical Society, the Society of Surgical Chairs, and the American Pancreatic Association. He served on the American Board of Surgery (1985–1993) and as its chairman in 1993.

Dr. Warshaw is a prolific author. He has written more than 450 articles for medical and scientific publications, in addition to more than 200 book chapters and reviews; he has also edited 13 books. Currently, he is the editor-in-chief of Surgery.

Vice-Presidents

The ACS Vice-Presidents for 2014–2015 also were installed at the Convocation. Jay L. Grosfeld, MD, FACS, FRCSEng(Hon), FRCSI(Hon), FRCPSGlas(Hon), Lafayette F. Page professor emeritus of pediatric surgery and past-chairman, department of surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, is First Vice-President; and Kenneth L. Mattox, MD, FACS, distinguished service professor, Michael E. DeBakey department of surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, and chief of staff and chief of surgery, Ben Taub General Hospital, Houston, TX, is the Second Vice-President.

A Fellow of the ACS since 1973, Dr. Grosfeld has served on the ACS Advisory Council for pediatric surgery (1996–2001) and on the Advisory Councils for Surgical Specialties (1989–1994). An ACS Governor from 1985 to 1991, he was a member of the Board of Governors’ Committee on Chapter Relations (1989–1992) and the Committee on Physician Competency (1987–1992). He also served as a senior member on the Committee on Continuing Education (1981–1991) and on the Nominating Committee of the Fellows (1991–1992). He has been president of many surgical associations, including the American Surgical Association and the American Pediatric Surgical Association, and, like Dr. Warshaw, is a former chairman of the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Grosfeld also is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery and Seminars in Pediatric Surgery.

Dr. Mattox has been a Fellow of the ACS since 1975. A dedicated trauma surgeon, he has played an active role on the College’s Committee on Trauma (COT). He has served on the COT’s Emergency Services-Hospital Subcommittee (1983–1990). He also was a member of the COT’s Verification, Review, and Consultation Committee (1990–2000) and an ex officio member of the Education Subcommittee (1993–present). He delivered the Scudder Oration on Trauma at the 2000 Clinical Congress and is program director of the Trauma, Critical Care, and Acute Care Surgery Course and the Disaster Medical Response Course, both of which are sponsored by the ACS and presented each spring in Las Vegas, NV.

In addition, Dr. Mattox has served on the ACS Board of Governors (1985–1991, 1997–2003), playing an active role on the following Governors’ Committees: the Committee on Surgical Infections, as both Vice-Chair (2002–2003) and as a member (1998–2002); the Nominating Committee (2002–2003); and the Committee on Ambulatory Surgical Care (1986–1991). Dr. Mattox also has been a member of the College’s Pre- and Postoperative Care Committee (1982–1986), and the Committee on Medical Devices (1980–1986), which he chaired for three years (1983–1986). Dr. Mattox has been a co-author or co-editor of several prominent surgical texts, including Trauma, Top Knife: The Art and Craft of Trauma Surgery, and the Sabiston Textbook of Surgery: The Biological Basis of Modern Surgical Practice.