Chair
The American Board of Surgery (ABS), the national certifying body for general surgeons and related specialists, is pleased to welcome Dr. O. Joe Hines as chair for 2021-2022.
Dr. Hines joined the original ABS Board of Directors (now the ABS Council) in 2015 having been nominated by the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT). Following the ABS governance redesign in 2019, he was elected to the new Board of Directors as one of seven directors from the ABS Council.
For the past year, Dr. Hines has served as interim chair for the UCLA Department of Surgery. He is chief for the division of general surgery and professor of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, as well as the Robert and Kelly Day Chair in General Surgery and director of the UCLA Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Disease. Dr. Hines completed medical school at the University of Oklahoma, followed by residency training at UCLA.
An established surgeon-scientist focusing on patients with pancreatic and gastrointestinal disease, Dr. Hines has been a member of the UCLA Department of Surgery team for his entire career. He served as the UCLA Surgery Program Director from 2005-2015, and has been a recipient of the Department Golden Scalpel Teaching Award 12 times, in addition to the UCLA School of Medicine Award for Excellence in Education in 2008.
“It is a great privilege to serve as the American Board of Surgery chair this year,” said Dr. Hines. “The ABS serves the public through board certification of surgeons and the diplomates through education. The staff, directors, councilors, examiners, writers, and specialty board members are very dedicated to the mission, and have been especially so over this past year. We are thankful for the agile, committed, and creative energy each bring to the work of the Board. This year, I am looking forward to facilitating the establishment of an updated ABS strategic plan that will incorporate the new ABS governance structure and along with a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. In order to accomplish this, the Board is modernizing its approach, seeking diversified perspectives, and partnering with organizations in order to broadly serve the mission of promoting the highest standards for the profession and lifelong learning.”
In addition to his role with the ABS, Dr. Hines is president of the American Pancreatic Association and president of the Society of University Surgeons Foundation. He also serves on the editorial boards of Surgery, Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgery, and is an editor of Maignot’s Abdominal Operations. Previously, he served as president of the ACS Southern California Chapter, president of the Society of University Surgeons, vice president of the Pacific Coast Surgical Association, and governor of the American College of Surgeons.
Vice Chair
Mary T. Hawn, M.D.
Dr. Mary T. Hawn has been elected to serve as vice-chair of the ABS for the 2021-2022 term, and will succeed Dr O. Joe Hines as chair of the ABS for the 2022-2023 term. Nominated to the ABS by the American Surgical Association (ASA) in 2015, Dr. Hawn served on the previous ABS Board of Directors (now the ABS Council) until 2019, when she was elected to serve as a director on the new governing board of the ABS.
Dr. Hawn is the Emile Holman Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Stanford University. A native of Michigan, she completed her undergraduate education and general surgical training at the University of Michigan, followed by a fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at Oregon Health and Sciences University. Her clinical area of specialty is minimally invasive foregut surgery. In addition, she has earned a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan and her Certificate in Healthcare Quality and Safety from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“I am truly looking forward to serving the ABS in capacity as vice chair,” said Dr. Hawn. “I have been truly inspired by the collective wisdom and innovation for how we think about the future of surgical training and assessment. It is one of the highest honors of my career to be a part of this talented and committed group of professionals.”
In addition to her role with the ABS, Dr. Hawn serves as secretary of the ASA, president-elect of the Halsted Society, and vice president of the Association of VA Surgeons. She is on the editorial board of the Annals of Surgery, an associate editor of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, and is co-editor of the surgical textbook Operative Techniques in Surgery.
New Director
John H. Stewart IV, M.D., M.B.A.
Dr. John H. Stewart has been elected to the ABS Board of Directors from the ABS Council to fill the seat vacated by former chair Dr. John D. Mellinger.
Elected to the former ABS Board of Directors (now the ABS Council) in 2018 after being nominated by the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Stewart served on the Complex General Surgical Oncology Board (CGSOB) and on the Research Committee of the ABS Council, in addition to leading the ABS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force from 2020-2021.
About the ABS
The American Board of Surgery is an independent, nonprofit organization founded in 1937 for the purpose of certifying individuals who have met a defined standard of education, training and knowledge in the field of surgery. Surgeons certified by the ABS have completed at least five years of surgical training following medical school and successfully completed a written and oral examination process administered by the ABS. They must then maintain their board certification through ongoing learning and practice improvement activities.
The ABS offers board certification in general surgery, vascular surgery, pediatric surgery, surgical critical care, complex general surgical oncology, surgery of the hand, and hospice and palliative medicine. It is one of the 24 member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Jul. 15, 2021