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BWH Chief Medical Officer Andy Whittemore, MD, in April was elected president of the American Surgical Association (ASA), the nation’s oldest and most prestigious surgical organization, which was founded in 1880. Whittemore, who trained as a vascular surgeon and served as its division chief at BWH, has been chief medical officer since 1999, and he has led many hospital efforts that have made BWH a national leader in patient safety.
“It’s an honor to serve as the ASA president,” said Whittemore, who last year served as the association’s first vice president. “The ASA’s dedication to elevating standards of the medical/surgical profession through science and scholarship fits perfectly with BWH’s mission of providing excellent care, conducting groundbreaking research and training the clinicians of tomorrow.”
Whittemore’s election as president is quite an achievement and enhances BWH’s already stellar reputation among surgeons the world over, said Michael Zinner, MD, chair of Surgery at BWH. “The ASA surely is the preeminent surgeons association in the world, and all of BWH should be proud to have Andy serving as its president,” he said.
Whittemore is the fourth surgeon with strong BWH ties to lead the ASA as president. Most recently, John A. Mannick, MD, BWH’s former surgeon in-chief, served as ASA president in 1989; transplant pioneer Francis D. Moore held the post in 1971; and cardiac surgery pioneer Elliott Carr Cutler of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital was ASA president in 1947. J. Englebert Dunphy, who was a PBBH faculty member in the 1950s, served as ASA president in 1961.