CHICAGO — Trauma surgeon Anna Marie Ledgerwood, MD, FACS, whose efforts have helped shape trauma care throughout Michigan and nationally, is the 2025 recipient of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Dr. Mary Edwards Walker Inspiring Women in Surgery Award.
ACS President Beth H. Sutton, MD, FACS, will present the award to Dr. Ledgerwood on Saturday, October 4, during the Convocation ceremony preceding the opening of the ACS Clinical Congress 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
Presented annually, the award recognizes an individual’s contributions to the advancement of women in the field of surgery, and is named in honor of Mary Edwards Walker, MD, the first woman surgeon to serve in the U.S. Army and the only woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest U.S. armed forces decoration for valor.
A general and trauma surgeon at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Ledgerwood’s achievements have extended to her entire institution, state, and specialty.
After witnessing quality improvement efforts at another institution, Dr. Ledgerwood became involved with the ACS Committee on Trauma Verification, Review, and Consultation program when it was created in 1987. The program has become the basis for verifying trauma centers nationwide at levels I through IV, including at her own Level I hospital, Detroit Receiving Hospital, which is a site of education for roughly half of all Michigan physicians and was the first Level I trauma center in the state.
In large part because of the design Dr. Ledgerwood and other committee members put in place and sustained, ACS trauma center verification has been shown to significantly decrease mortality in adult and pediatric patients.
Excellence in Leadership
An ACS Fellow since 1975, Dr. Ledgerwood has held numerous leadership positions at the ACS, serving as the president of the ACS Michigan Chapter, a member of the Board of Governors, a first vice-president of the Board of Regents, and the first woman to deliver the Scudder Oration on Trauma in 1996. During her 40-year tenure as a full professor, Dr. Ledgerwood has established a reputation for mentoring and advising students and junior colleagues in the field of surgery. Additionally, Dr. Ledgerwood was the first woman to serve as president of the Academy of Surgery of Detroit, the ACS Michigan Chapter, the Midwest Surgical Association, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the American Surgical Association.
