Prof. Courtney M. Townsend, USA

Courtney M. Townsend, Jr., MD, FACS
Robertson-Poth Distinguished Chair in General Surgery, department of surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston
President-Elect of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

Dr. Townsend is a highly esteemed surgical educator, and fellow of ACS since 1981. He has held many leadership roles in the organization, including Secretary (2006-2013), Chair of the ACS Board of Governors (2004-2005), and a member of the Board’s Executive Committee (1999-2003).
Dr. Townsend is professor of surgery and professor of physician’s assistant studies at the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, UTMB. He earned his medical degree and completed his internship and general surgery training at UTMB. He completed a surgical oncology fellowship at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA).
Dr. Townsend has been editor-in-chief of the Sabiston Textbook for Surgery: The Biological Basis of Modern Surgical Practice since 2000 and was the editor of Surgical Oncology (1992-1999). He has served on the editorial board of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS), Surgery, and The American Journal of Surgery.
He has authored or co-authored 416 articles in peer-reviewed publications, 123 articles in other publications, and 364 scientific research abstracts.
Dr. Townsend has also served in leadership roles in several other medical organizations. He is past-director and chairman of the American Board of Surgery (2000-2006); served on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency Review Committee for Surgery (1994-1999); American Surgical Association president (2007-2008) He is an honorary member of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons and the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) and is a recipient of the John P. McGovern Lifetime Achievement Award in Oslerian Medicine.