ACS Resident Award for Exemplary Teaching

Nominations are now open, and the deadline for nomination packet submissions is June 8, 2026.

For more details and submission instructions, please download the 2026 ACS Resident Award for Exemplary Teaching Call for Nominations Packet and Biographical Sketch

A complete nomination packet must include:

• Application Form
• Biographical Sketch
• Letter of nomination from the Chair or Program Director
• Short Essay
• Additional letter of support

Please submit the nomination materials electronically to residentawards@facs.org by June 8, 2026.

If you have any questions, please contact Daniel Cox at residentawards@facs.org or 312-202-5053

Eligible nominees are residents in good standing in an accredited surgery residency program, including specialty programs. Graduating chief residents are eligible. Residents must have received prior recognition of their outstanding efforts in teaching by having received internal teaching awards at their current institution. Teaching efforts directed toward medical students, fellow residents, or other allied health personnel can be recognized. These are the areas upon which the candidates will be evaluated:

• Teaching awards
• Courses taught
• Educational activities
• Educational publications

Documentation supporting teaching excellence may be furnished in the form of evaluations completed by students. Efforts made by the nominee to improve the educational environment of the institution by serving on education committees, organizing courses, or participating in educational programs will also be considered in the selection process. Nominations will be accepted from program directors and department chairs and will be reviewed by an independent review panel of the ACS Committee on Resident Education. Each surgery residency program, including specialty programs, may nominate one resident.

For more details and submission instructions, please download the 2026 ACS Resident Award for Exemplary Teaching Call for Nominations Packet and Biographical Sketch

2025

Julie M. Clanahan, MD, MHPE
Washington University School of Medicine
Nominator: Jennifer Yu, MD, MPHS

2024

Rick Vavolizza, MD
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Nominator: Charles Friel, MD, FACS, FASCRS

2023

Taylor M. Coe, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Nominator: John T. Mullen, MD

2022

Brendan P. Lovasik, MD
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Nominator: Jahnavi K. Srinivasan, MD, FACS

2021

Rebecca L. Williams-Karnesky, MD, PhD. MEdPsych
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Nominator: Jasmeet S. Paul, MD, FACS

2020

Sophia K. McKinley MD, EdM
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Nominator: John Mullen, MD, FACS

2019

Courtney A. Green, MD, MAEd
University of California, San Francisco, CA
Nominator: Linda M. Reilly, MD, FACS

2018

Patrick E. Georgoff, MD
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Nominator: Paul G. Gauger, MD, FACS, FACE

2017

Clark D. Kensinger, MD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Nominator: Kyla P. Terhune, MD, MBA, FACS

2016

Afif N. Kulaylat, MD, MSc
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA
Nominator: David C. Han, MD, MS, FACS

2015

Brian C. George, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA
Nominator: John T. Mullen, MD, FACS

2014

Luise Ingeborg Maria Pernar, MD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA
Nominator: Douglas S. Smink, MD, FACS

2013

Jacob A. Quick, MD
University of Missouri, Columbia, MO
Nominator: Jerry B. Rogers, MD, FACS

2012

John L. Falcone, MD, MS
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Nominator: Kenneth K.W. Lee, MD, FACS

2011

Aaron R. Jensen, MD, MEd
University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Nominator: Karen Horvath, MD, FACS

2010

Steven E. Brooks, MD
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX
Nominator: Ari Halldorsson, MD, FACS

2009

Susan S. Hagen, MD
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Iowa City, IA
Nominator: William John Sharp, MD, FACS

2008

R. Ramesh Singh, MB, BCh
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
Nominator: Irving Kron, MD, FACS

2007

David A. McClusky, III, MD
Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Nominator: Thomas F. Dodson, MD, FACS

2006

Jillian Coolen, MD
University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Nominator: Sue Chandra, MD, FRCSC

2005

Robert J. Feezor, MD
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Nominator: William G. Cance, MD, FACS

2004

Glenn T. Ault, MD, MSEd
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Nominator: Robert W. Beart, MD, FACS

2003

Anthony W. Kim, MD, MS
Rush University, Chicago, IL
Nominator: Richard A. Prinz, MD, FACS