Dr. Steven Wexner, Weston, FL, elected ASCRS President;
Dr. Alan Thorson, Omaha, NE, becomes President-elect
Dr. Steven D. Wexner, Weston, FL, was elected President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) at the Society’s Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He succeeds Dr. David E. Beck, New Orleans, LA.
Other new officers and members elected to serve on the organization’s governing Executive Council are:
- Dr. Alan Thorson, Omaha, NE, President-elect
- Dr. David Levien, Baltimore, MD, Vice President
- Dr. Charles Littlejohn, Stamford, CT, Secretary
- Dr. Terry Hicks, New Orleans, LA, Treasurer
- Dr. Julio Garcia-Aguilar, Duarte, CA, Research Foundation President
- Dr. Conor Delaney, Cleveland, OH, Member-at-large
- Dr. Walter Peters, Columbia, MO, Member-at-large
Dr. Steven Wexner: President
Dr. Wexner is Chief Academic Officer at Cleveland Clinic Florida. He is also Chairman of the Department of Colorectal Surgery and emeritus Chief of Staff (1997-2008).
He holds academic appointments as Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at Florida Atlantic University; Professor and Affiliate Dean for Clinical Education at Florida International University; Affiliate Professor of Surgery at the University of South Florida; Professor of Surgery at the Ohio State University; Affiliate Professor of Surgery at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; Visiting Professor, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Hadassah Medical Organization, Jerusalem, Israel; and Professor of Surgery, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
An ASCRS Fellow, Dr. Wexner has chaired several committees, including Membership, International, and Regional Society, and was Vice-Chair of the Self-Assessment Committee. He was also a member of the Bylaws, Program and Health Care Reform Committees, and served as Executive Council representative to the Centers of Excellence, Operative Competency and Evaluation, and Website Committees. He has been a trustee on the ASCRS Research Foundation Board since 2005 and was Vice President from 2008-2010.
Dr. Wexner served a three-year term on the Executive Council (2002-2005) and three years as ASCRS Secretary before becoming President-elect last year.
He is Past President of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), serving from 2006 to 2007. He was a Governor of the American College of Surgeons (2000-2006), a member of its Residency Review Committee for Colon and Rectal Surgery, and a member of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery (2005-2012), and currently serves as its President.
On a local level, he has also served as the President of the Florida Gastroenterologic Society (2004-2005) and South Florida Chapter of the American College of Surgeons (2002-2004).
Dr. Wexner has received many honorary fellowships, including the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS), the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (FRCS Ed), as well as from surgical societies in Argentina, Brazil, China, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and many others.
Dr. Alan Thorson: President-elect
Dr. Thorson is Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, and Creighton University, where he is a member of the Creighton Cancer Center and faculty member of the Center for Practice Improvement and Outcomes Research.
Dr. Thorson is a member of the Quality Assessment and Safety Committee. He chaired the Continuing Medical Education Committee from 1999 – 2005, and has served on the Outcomes Measurement and Program Committees. He has also served as Associate Editor of the Society’s journal, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum.
Dr. Thorson served as ASCRS Treasurer for three years before becoming President-elect, and during that time was also Treasurer of the ASCRS Research Foundation.
In 2009-2010, Dr. Thorson held another distinguished and important national office as President of the American Cancer Society.
Dr. David Levien: Vice President
Dr. Levien is Chairman of Surgery at Saint Agnes Hospital, Baltimore.
After receiving his BA at the Johns Hopkins University and Doctor of Medicine cum Laude from the Georgetown University, he completed his surgical residency at the University of Massachusetts Coordinated Surgical Residency Program and was Chief Resident at the University Of Massachusetts Hospital. His colorectal surgery fellowship was served at the Ferguson Clinic, Grand Rapids, MI.
He has been Director or Chairman of Surgery for 18 years, 10 in Philadelphia and 5 at his present position. He has been Program Director of a General Surgery Residency for 11 years. While in Philadelphia, he achieved the academic rank of Clinical Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College.
Dr. Levien’s ASCRS committee service goes back to 1992. Committees on which he has served include Awards, Program, Self Assessment, Standards Task Force, Local Arrangements, Residents, Workforce, and Technologies.
Dr. Charles Littlejohn: Secretary
Dr. Littlejohn is a partner in private practice limited to colon and rectal surgery in Stamford, CT. He is Director of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery at Stamford Hospital, and Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, New York, NY. In addition, he is an attending colon and rectal surgeon at Norwalk Hospital, Norwalk, CT.
Dr. Littlejohn previously served as Executive Council Member-at-Large and chaired the Young Surgeons Committee. He was also a member of many committees, including Emerging Technologies, Program, Regional Society and Socioeconomic/Legislative.
Dr. Terry Hicks: Treasurer
Dr. Hicks is Associate Chairman, Department of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Ochsner Clinic, New Orleans, LA, and Clinical Professor of Surgery, LSU School of Medicine. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio.
Dr. Hicks has been very active in the ASCRS, serving on the Executive Council from 1995-98 and as Co-Chair, Chair, and Council Rep of the Socioeconomic Committee from 1992-99. He was the Society Treasurer, 1998-99, and has served as Chairman, Colorectal Advisory Corporation (ASCRS Medical Legal Consulting Firm), 1991 to the present. His other ASCRS service includes the Standards Task Force and the following committees: Standards (1994-96), Local Arrangements (2002-03), Regional Society (2005-09), Membership (2009-12), Program (2009-12), and Research Development (2009-10).
He served as a member of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery, from 2002-2010, and as the Board President, 2008-2009.
Dr. Julio Garcia-Aguilar: Research Foundation President
Dr. Garcia-Aguilar is Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA.
A native of Spain, Dr. Garcia-Aguilar completed his medical education and residency in surgery at the University of Madrid in 1985. He then served as a surgical resident at Beth Israel Hospital and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. He was an associate professor at the University of Minnesota’s colon and rectal surgery program.
Before joining City of Hope, Dr. Garcia-Aguilar was professor of surgery and Chief of the Section of Colon and Rectal Surgery, and director of the colorectal fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He also served as surgeon-in-chief of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
He served as Associate Editor and Co-Editor of the Society’s peer-reviewed journal, Diseases of the Colon and Rectum. Dr. Garcia-Aguilar has also served on the Scientific Committee and is President of the Board of Trustees of the Research Foundation of ASCRS. He has also served on the International Council of Coloproctology.
Dr. Conor Delaney: Member-at-Large
Dr. Delaney is Chief, the Division of Colorectal Surgery, Surgical Director of the Digestive Health Institute, and Vice Chairman of the Department of Surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also Professor of Surgery and Director of the Center for Surgery and Simulation at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Dr. Delaney holds a Master of Surgery and PhD degree from the University College Dublin in Ireland. His postgraduate education included a residency through the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Delaney is the founder and past-president of the International Society of Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery. He was recently awarded the inaugural Master Clinician Award at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.
Dr. Delaney served as Vice Chair, Socioeconomic Committee, 2005-08, and Vice Chair, Quality Assessment & Safety Committee, 2008-11. He also served on the CME, Awards, Program, and Self Assessment Committees.
Dr. Walter Peters: Member-at-Large
Dr. Peters is the President of Columbia Surgical Associates, Columbia, MO, a 10-surgeon multi-specialty group practice. He has served as President of the Missouri Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and currently serves as the Chief of Staff at Boone Hospital Center
Dr. Peters obtained his MD degree from Washington University in St. Louis before taking his residency in general surgery and fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Jewish Hospital of St. Louis.
He served on the Society’s Standards Committee and is currently a member of the Program Committee.
Continuing on the Executive Council are Drs. Beck (Past President), Michael Abel, San Francisco, CA; Robert Madoff, Minneapolis, MN; José Guillem, New York, NY; and Guy Orangio, Atlanta, GA. In addition, Drs. James W. Fleshman, St. Louis, MO, a Past President, and Sharon Gregorcyk, Dallas, TX, serve as nonvoting ad hoc Executive Council Members.
