LAMAR S. MCGINNIS, JR., MD, FACS, NAMED PRESIDENT-ELECT
OF AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

CHICAGO: LaMar S. McGinnis, Jr., MD, FACS, a general and oncologic surgeon from Atlanta, GA, was named President-Elect of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) on October 13, during the College’s 94th annual Clinical Congress in San Francisco. Dr. McGinnis is a clinical professor of surgery at Emory University and the senior medical advisor to the American Cancer Society, both in Atlanta. His surgical practice was centered at DeKalb Medical, Decatur, GA, for 40 years, where he was medical director of the Eberhart Cancer Center from 1991 to 2000.

A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons since 1962, Dr. McGinnis has been active in providing service to the College for over three decades. He served on the College’s Board of Governors as a Governor-at-Large (1985-1991) and as Chair of the Governors’ Committees on Chapter Activities (1988-1989) and Surgical Practice in Hospitals (1989-1991), and its Nominating Committee (1990). Dr. McGinnis was an ACS delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA) from 1994 to 2000, served as a member (1980-1990), Vice-Chair (1985-1986), and Executive Committee Chair (1985-1986) of the Commission on Cancer, and has served as Vice-Chair of the College’s Health Policy Steering Committee since 2001. He was President of the College’s Georgia Chapter from 1986 to 1987 and later served on that chapter’s Board of Directors (1987-2003). From 2000 to 2001, he was Second Vice-President of the College. Dr. McGinnis is a Life Member of the Fellows Leadership Society and in 1998, he was awarded the ACS Distinguished Service Award, the College’s highest honor.

A 1954 graduate of the Medical College of Georgia, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, Dr. McGinnis served an internship at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (1954-1955), and completed a general surgery residency at University of Texas Medical Center, Galveston, in 1959. From 1959 to 1963, he served in the United States Air Force as chief of professional services and surgical services at the Plattsburg Air Force Base (SAC) in New York.

In addition to his service to the College, Dr. McGinnis has been an active leader and member of other national surgical and medical organizations. Since 1983, he has been involved with the American Cancer Society. Among his activities with the society, Dr. McGinnis has served as chair of many committees, and as the organization’s vice-president (1993-1994) and president (1994-1995). He has been a consultant in research and cancer control for the society since 1997. Additionally, he was a member of the board of directors of the AMA Surgical Caucus (1995-2006) and also served as its secretary and treasurer. In 2005, he was appointed one of the American College of Surgeons three commissioners to The Joint Commission (then called the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) and now serves on its Executive committee and chairs the Governance committee. He is also vice-chair of the Executive committee of Joint Commission Resources. Furthermore, Dr. McGinnis served as first vice-president of the Southern Surgical Association (2004-2005) and as president of the Georgia Surgical Society (1982-1983). He has been president of the Medical College of Georgia’s Alumni Association and of the Medical College of Georgia Foundation.

Dr. McGinnis has been happily married to his wife Julia for 51 years. They have four children and five grandchildren.

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 74,000 members and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

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Online November 14, 2008

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