David Stern, MD, executive dean of the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has announced that Timothy C. Fabian, MD, professor and chair of the UTHSC Department of Surgery, will step down from his position as chair once his successor has been named. Dr. Fabian has been chair of Surgery at UTHSC for more than 14 years. After he steps down as chair, Dr. Fabian will continue to serve as a professor in the department, fulfilling his ongoing academic role to train future generations of surgeons.
“The university community is grateful for Dr. Fabian’s many years of exemplary service and we look forward to working with him as he continues his career as a valued faculty member and academician.”
David Stern, MD
A national search will begin immediately to locate highly qualified candidates who are interested in the UTHSC chair of Surgery position. The search committee is being co-chaired by Lee S. Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, division chief of Hematology at UTHSC, and Medical Director, the West Cancer Center, and Sandeep Samant, MD, professor and vice chair in the UTHSC Department of Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery), and division chief for Head and Neck Surgery. An external search firm that specializes in health care leadership will assist the committee.
The greater Memphis community has gained much from Dr. Fabian’s tenure. From the outset of his career at UTHSC in 1980, his focus has been academic medicine and trauma care. He helped organize and develop one of the highest-volume trauma centers in the United States — The Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center, located in the Regional Medical Center (The MED). His academic interests have been in both clinical and laboratory research dealing with shock and organ injury management.
An alumus of the Harwell Wilson Surgical Society, which supports surgery residents at UTHSC, Dr. Fabian has served as vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the American College of Surgeons, and as president of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma. He has also served on the Board of Managers and been President for the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma.