Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS, will be installed tonight during Convocation as the 2024–2025 ACS President, succeeding Henri R. Ford, MD, MHA, FACS.
Convocation will be in the Ballroom of the Moscone Center West. While the ceremony starts at 6:00 pm, the Procession of Initiates and the Procession of Officers, Regents, Governors, and guests will begin at 5:30 pm. The ceremony also will be livestreamed on the ACS website at so that a worldwide audience may experience the celebration in real time. In addition, Convocation will be available on demand for registrants to view soon after its conclusion.
A total of 1,894 initiates from 74 countries will be inducted as new ACS Fellows during Convocation. “It is well understood that being a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons is the mark of a well-trained surgeon of high character,” said Dr. Sutton, a general surgeon who had a longstanding private practice in Wichita Falls, Texas.
She also has an impressive history of service to the ACS. It includes participation in more than a dozen committees and task forces as well as nearly a decade on the Board of Regents, where she is a past-Chair.
At Convocation, the ACS also will install Nancy L. Gantt, MD, FACS, as First Vice-President, and Dennis H. Kraus, MD, FACS, as Second Vice-President. Following this, Dr. Sutton will deliver her Presidential Address and promote the theme of her presidential year, “Excelling Together.”
The theme highlights the unique insights ACS membership can give surgeons. “In addition to education and professionalism and so many other things that the College does, the big opportunity for so many surgeons is to see what the rest of the surgical world is like. At times, you may feel that your personal microcosm is challenging and difficult. But then you interact with surgeons from all over the United States and sometimes even other countries, as well as other surgical disciplines, and you can assess what you have and value what you have in a special way,” Dr. Sutton explained.
ACS President Dr. Ford added, “I remember how important it was for me to become a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. For me some 28 years later now to be presiding over this important event is quite special, and it has a particular significance. The fact that my last act as President will be to pass the baton to my dear friend Dr. Beth Sutton as the incoming president is truly special, something that I’m always going to treasure.”
Several major awards will be presented during Convocation as well. The College’s highest individual honor, the Distinguished Service Award, will be bestowed on Layton “Bing” Rikkers, MD, FACS. Additional awardees include Barbara Pettitt, MD, MHPE, FACS, FAAP, who will receive the Mary Edwards Walker Inspiring Women in Surgery Award; Mary T. Hawn, MD, MPH, FACS, who will be awarded the Owen Wangensteen Scientific Forum Award; and C. William Schwab, MD, FACS, FRCS (a retired Commander, in the US Navy), who will be honored with the Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award. Former ACS Executive Director David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes his decades of outstanding service to the College.
In addition, Initiates from the classes of 1974 and 1999 will be recognized, and Honorary Fellowships will be given to eight individuals:
- Emmanuel Adoyi Ameh, MBBS, FACS, FWACS, FRCSI, a pediatric surgeon from Abuja, Nigeria
- Professor Yuichiro Doki, MD, PhD, an esophageal cancer surgeon from Osaka, Japan
- Christine Gaarder, MD, PhD, FACS, FEBSEmSurg, FEBSAWR, a trauma surgeon from Oslo, Norway
- Andrew Graham Hill, MBChB, MD, EdD, FACS, FISS, FRACS, FRSNZ, a colorectal surgeon from Auckland, New Zealand
- Jamal Hoballah, MD, MBA, FACS, a vascular surgeon from Beirut, Lebanon
- Patrick Ronan O’Connell, MB, MD, FRCSI, a colorectal surgeon from Dublin, Ireland
- Shailesh Vinayak Shrikhande, MBBS, MS, MD, a hepatobiliary surgeon from Mumbai, India
- Catherine S. C. Teh, MD, MSc, FPCS, FRCS(Ed), a hepatopancreatobiliary surgeon from Manila, Philippines
A reception to celebrate the initiates, awardees, and new officers will follow Convocation in the Moscone Center West (Level 2).
