SUS Lifetime Achievement and Trailblazer Award Winners
SUS Lifetime Achievement Award
The SUS Lifetime Achievement Award is designed to recognize individuals who have made significant and impactful contributions to academic surgery and the training of the future generation of surgeons. Prior recipients of this award have been surgical giants who have shaped Surgery as we know it today. Dr. Keith Lillemoe is the Society of University Surgeons 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the true quintuple threat. Surgeon, scientist, teacher, mentor and family man.
His academic accomplishments and awards are too numerous to list, but I want to highlight over 500 peer reviewed publications, 140 book chapters, editor of multiple books including Greenfield, Editor in Chief of the Annals of Surgery, 125 visiting Professorships and being a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Despite participating in many societies and being the President of the American Surgical Association, President of SSAT, President of the Halsted Society, President of the Society of Clinical Surgery, it is his involvement in the SUS that has been one of the most meaningful. Dr. Lillemoe’s commitment to the SUS is mirrored by his many roles between 1993 to 2014 including Secretary from 1994-97 and President 1998. After his Presidency he went on to be the Secretary, Treasurer and President of the SUS Foundation. In 2014 he was the Master of Ceremonies at the 75th Anniversary Gala. He has committed almost 30 years of his career to the SUS and his entire career to being a leader and developing the future leaders of American Surgery.
Keith Lillemoe is a surgeon, scientist, writer, editor, mentor, sponsor and leader.
Trailblazer Award
Dr. Herb Chen introduced the inaugural Trailblazer Award recipient Dr. George Yang. George was the driving force behind the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons. George recognized the inequities in leadership opportunities for Asian Academic surgeons. Congratulations, accolades and humorous anecdotes came from Drs. Kasper Wang, Ken Murayama, Paul Kuo, Tracy Wang, Ash Gosain, Allan Tsung, Jenny Tseng, Dan Chu, Eugene Kim, Nipun Merchant, Herb Chen and the University of Alabama Department of Surgery. They all thanked him for his passion, commitment, mentorship and sponsorship.
