Roger S. Foster, MD, FACS, and Baiba Grube, MD, FACS, are the 2026 recipients of the ACS Foundation Distinguished Philanthropist Award, which recognizes individuals for exemplary investment in the mission of the ACS and surgical care worldwide.
The married couple received the award during Clinical Congress 2026 in Washington, DC. For Drs. Foster and Grube, the recognition caps long and productive surgical careers and reflects their commitment to supporting the institutions and organizations that have shaped their lives.
A Special Connection to the ACS
Dr. Foster enjoyed a career as a leader in surgical oncology.
He earned his medical degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, then completed surgical residency at University Hospitals of Cleveland and a fellowship at Roswell Park Memorial Institute (now Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center) in Buffalo, New York. During medical school, he conducted research in pituitary and adrenal gland transplants.
“That started my interest in endocrinology and later oncology and surgery,” Dr. Foster said.
His growing interest in those fields brought him to the University of Vermont in Burlington, where he began surgical practice as an assistant professor and participated in oncology research.
As his career gained recognition, “I began to get called on to sit on various committees at the National Cancer Institute,” he said. In total, he participated in 11 such committees and chaired the Cancer Clinical Investigations Review Committee.
Dr. Foster later became the Wadley R. Glenn Professor of Surgery at Emory University and chief of surgical services at Emory’s Crawford Long Hospital (now Emory University Hospital Midtown) in Atlanta, Georgia. He also is a past president of the New England Surgical Society.
His leadership included significant contributions to the ACS. Dr. Foster first served as secretary of the Vermont Chapter and later participated in nearly a dozen ACS committees, chairing about half. He also served on the Board of Governors, including two terms on its Executive Committee, and was a member of the Board of Regents for 9 years. His service also included more than a decade with the ACS Commission on Cancer.
Dr. Foster also holds a rare distinction within the College through his connection by marriage to an ACS founder.
While completing his residency in Cleveland, Dr. Foster met George W. Crile Jr., MD, FACS (1907–1992), a son of George W. Crile, MD, FACS (1864–1943), one of the founders of both the Cleveland Clinic and the ACS.
When Dr. Foster’s friend and fellow surgeon Caldwell Esselstyn Jr., MD, FACS, invited him skiing, he brought along the younger Dr. Crile’s daughters. Dr. Foster began a relationship with Joan, while Dr. Esselstyn partnered with Ann. Both couples were married for decades, making Drs. Foster and Esselstyn grandsons-in-law of ACS founder Dr. Crile.
A Surgical Career in Two Disciplines
After his wife’s death in 2000, Dr. Foster married Dr. Grube. The two had first met at the University of Vermont.
A native of Albany, New York, Dr. Grube attended medical school at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and completed surgical residency at the University of Vermont. There, Dr. Foster was among her research mentors, along with trauma surgeon Richard Gamelli, MD, FACS (1949–2022).
The two mentors represented Dr. Grube’s key areas of interest.
“When it came time for me to take my next step, I was really caught between two passions, surgical oncology and burns and trauma,” she explained.
She ultimately completed a fellowship in trauma and burn care at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington, where she remained for 5 years.
Dr. Grube later took a leave to conduct basic science research at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, before retraining in surgical oncology at the City of Hope in Duarte, California. She completed supplemental education in breast oncology at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California.
“I focused the rest of my career on breast diseases, mostly as a breast oncologist,” she said.
Dr. Grube retired from surgery at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 2011. She later reconnected with Dr. Foster, with whom she now lives outside Burlington.
“The Legacy Should Be the College”
Drs. Foster and Grube have focused their philanthropy on organizations that have shaped their lives, careers, and interests.
The child of immigrants from Latvia, Dr. Grube has donated to Latvian social and cultural organizations. She also has supported the Association of Women Surgeons and, as a music fan, organizations supporting music and the arts.
Dr. Foster has largely focused his giving on the institutions that influenced his life: Haverford College in Pennsylvania, where he earned his undergraduate degree, Case Western Reserve University, and the University of Vermont. He and Dr. Grube have contributed to each institution, including establishing the Foster Family Scholarship Fund at Haverford College to help alleviate undergraduate students’ financial need.
The ACS holds particular significance for both.
“I lived all my life as a participant in the field of surgery, and those hours were greater than hours spent with family or with friends. So, it’s important to give back to our professional family, just like you support your children or you support your parents or relatives,” Dr. Grube explained.
Their gifts to the ACS Foundation have been unrestricted, giving the College flexibility to use the funds where they are needed most.
“I want a strong organization to be able to go the way they need to go,” Dr. Foster said.
Asked how they view their own legacies, both shifted the focus to future generations of the ACS.
“It’s the future generations of the College to impact and support them in the best way possible,” Dr. Foster said.
“The legacy should be the College,” Dr. Grube concurred.
