Newswise — SAN FRANCISCO: Patricia J. Numann, MD, FACS, a general surgeon from Syracuse, NY, was installed as the 92nd President of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) last night during Convocation ceremonies that preceded the official opening of the College’s 2011 Annual Clinical Congress in San Francisco, CA. Dr. Numann is the Lloyd S. Rogers Professor of Surgery Emeritus, Distinguished Service Professor, and Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus, at the State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University, Syracuse. A native of Denver, NY, Dr. Numann has ardently devoted her entire professional life to SUNY Upstate Medical University. After earning a medical degree there in 1965, she completed a combined internship in medicine and surgery (1965-66) and then trained as a general surgery resident (1966-70). After residency, she was appointed assistant professor of surgery (1970-75), and then rose through the academic ranks at SUNY Upstate serving as associate professor of surgery (1975-89); associate dean of the college of medicine (1978-84); associate dean of the college of medicine clinical affairs (1989-94); professor of surgery (1989-2007); medical director of the university hospital (1997-2007); and Lloyd S. Rogers Professor of Surgery (2000-07).
Additionally, Dr. Numann served professional surgical appointments as attending surgeon at SUNY Upstate Medical University (1989-2007); staff surgeon at Veteran’s Affairs Hospital (1970-2007); and as consulting surgeon at Crouse-Irving Memorial Hospital (1970-2006), all in Syracuse. She is board certified by the American Board of Surgery (1971, recertified 1994).
Throughout her surgical career, Dr. Numann’s clinical and scientific interests have focused on breast disease and thyroid and parathyroid disease, a commitment reflected in the establishment of the Patricia J. Numann Breast & Endocrine Surgery Center at SUNY Upstate in 2007. Moreover, she received grants and served as principal investigator or co-investigator of several studies researching various aspects of breast and endocrine disease.
Dr. Numann has also served as an author or co-author of several chapters in surgical textbooks as well as numerous journal articles and abstracts, many of which focus on breast and parathyroid disease. Further, she has served on the editorial boards of several prestigious medical and surgical journals including the Journal of the American Medical Association, World Journal of Surgery, and Journal of Surgical Research.
Known as an outstanding and motivating educator, Dr. Numann received the Distinguished Teacher Award (1983) and President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (1990) from SUNY, where the graduating medical students have regularly asked her to serve as faculty marshal or to deliver the Oath of Hippocrates during commencement.
Dr. Numann became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) in 1974 and she has actively contributed to the work of the College for many years. Since 2003, she has been Director of the ACS Fundamentals of Surgery Curriculum.
Previously, Dr. Numann was a member of the Board of Regents Communications Committee (1999-2000); Graduate Medical Education Committee (1992-94); Committee on Surgical Education in Medical Schools (1986-96); Advisory Council for General Surgery (1999-2002); and member (1992-94) and Chair (1994-95) of the Nominating Committee of Fellows. She served on several ACS Surgical Education and Self-Assessment Program (SESAP®) Committees as a committee member or committee co-chair, beginning with SESAP III in 1976. Furthermore, she served as the College’s Second Vice-President from 1999 to 2000. In 2006, the American College of Surgeons recognized Dr. Numann for her invaluable service contributions by naming her the recipient of its Distinguished Service Award, the College’s highest honor.
In addition to membership in—and service to— the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Numann has been an active leader and member of several national surgical and medical organizations. She was the first woman to serve as chair of the esteemed American Board of Surgery (1994-2002) and was vice president of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons (1992). She was one of the founding members and president (1985-86) of the Association for Surgical Education and she founded the Association for Women Surgeons in 1982, and later served as its president (1986-87).
Throughout her remarkable career, Dr. Numann has received numerous honors and awards at the local, state, and national level, including the New York State Woman of Distinction in Medicine Award (1994), the Nina Starr Braunwald Award of the Association of Women Surgeons (1998); and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Distinguished Service Award (2001). The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Research Fund of CNY, Inc. named her “Humanitarian of the Year” in 2003. She next was inducted into the International Women Physicians’ Hall of Fame and named “Local Legend” to the National Library of Medicine’s “Changing Faces of Medicine” exhibit (2004). Earlier this year, she was awarded the Prize of the International Society of Surgery/Société Internationale de Chirurgie (ISS/SIC), its highest honor.
When Dr. Numann retired from active clinical practice and as Lloyd S. Rogers Professor of Surgery in 2007, she was awarded emeritus status by SUNY. In 2009, it was announced that “in honor of her life's work and outstanding dedication,” SUNY Upstate was creating its first endowed chair for a woman: the Patricia J. Numann, MD, Chair of Surgery.
Dr. Numann resides in Syracuse, where she continues to devote herself to many teaching and community service organizations, including the boards of the Everson Museum of Art, The Community Health Foundation of Western and Central New York, Vera House, and Hospice of Central New York._____________
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 77,000 members and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.
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