During the recent 2020 Academic Surgical Congress, Melanie Morris, M.D., was elected publication chair for the Society of University Surgeons and five other faculty were named members.

Vascular Surgery Division Director, Adam Beck, M.D., Associate Professor Daniel I. Chu, M.D., Associate Professor James M. Donahue, M.D., Associate Professor Benjamin J. Pearce, M.D., and Associate Professor Benjamin Wei, M.D., joined many other UAB Department of Surgery faculty in this prestigious membership. 

In her role as publication chair, Dr. Morris will work with UAB colleague Jayme Locke, M.D., MPH, co-lead the Academic Surgical Congress for the next two years.

The Society of University Surgeons was established in 1938 when Dr. Samuel J. Stabins, Chief Surgical Resident at the University of Rochester proposed the idea of a new surgical society whose members (1) had completed a rigorous training program in the tradition of Dr. William Halsted at Johns Hopkins Medical School and (2) held a faculty position at a United States medical school. The society's mission is to support and advance leaders in academic surgery.