Two distinguished leaders from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center were named to the Memphis Business Journal’s (MBJ) Power 100 list for 2026.
Trey Eubanks, MD, president of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and a senior faculty physician in the UT Health Sciences College of Medicine, appears on the list. Le Bonheur is UT Health Sciences’ primary pediatric hospital partner.
The Power 100 list also includes Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, marking his second recent honor for leadership in business. He was also named to Irish America’s 2025 Business 100 list, which honors Irish American and Irish-born leaders worldwide. Dr. Buckley and Dr. Eubanks serve together on the board of the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce.
Power 100 honors the most influential business and community leaders in the Memphis area. The MBJ editorial team compiles the list yearly and profiles the top leaders shaping the city’s economic landscape across a variety of industries.
Dr. Eubanks has served as Le Bonheur’s president since December 2023. He has held several leadership roles over his two-decade career at UT Health Sciences and Le Bonheur, including surgeon-in-chief, chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery, and medical director of trauma. He also completed residency training at UT Health Sciences.
As Le Bonheur’s president, Dr. Eubanks has focused on recruiting and retaining top-tier employees to continue serving patients as one of the best children’s hospitals in the country. Through partnering with UT Health Sciences and with the support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Dr. Eubanks has brought outstanding academic pediatric physicians to Memphis. Last year, he served on the search committee that recommended Michael Hocker, MD, a renowned academic leader, to become the executive dean of the College of Medicine at UT Health Sciences. Most recently, Dr. Eubanks and Dr. Hocker announced the joint recruitment of Debra Palazzi, MD, from Texas Children’s Hospital, to come to Memphis and serve as Pediatrician-in-Chief at Le Bonheur and Dunavant Chair of Pediatrics at the UT Health Sciences College of Medicine.
“Through collaboration with UT Health Sciences, we are bringing top talent to the city of Memphis, improving the health and wellbeing of children and adults throughout the Mid-South region,” Dr. Eubanks said.
Since joining UT Health Sciences in 2022, Chancellor Buckley and a newly formed executive leadership team, including Dr. Hocker, have provided strategic direction that has accelerated the university’s momentum and expanded its impact in Memphis and across Tennessee. This includes guiding the creation of the 2023–2028 Strategic Plan, which defines the university’s long-term direction and commitment to improving health statewide.
“It is a pleasure and a privilege to be recognized by MBJ alongside my colleague and friend Dr. Eubanks and with other business leaders who make Memphis a thriving city,” Dr. Buckley said. “Dr. Eubanks is a highly collaborative leader, and now in partnership with Dean Hocker, they will bring more top doctors and leaders to Memphis.”
UT Health Sciences has celebrated several accomplishments since last year’s Power 100. In 2025, the university received the prestigious R1 designation from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, was named the Tennessee Rural Health Care Center of Excellence, and led the inaugural Tennessee Statewide Cancer Collaborative Science Meeting. Through these and many other achievements, the university’s new leadership team is partnering in Memphis and across Tennessee to advance its vision: Healthy Tennesseans. Thriving Communities.
MBJ has published a Power 100 list annually since 2019, honoring leaders from business, politics, sports, education, health care, and community service. The list typically includes CEOs, presidents, executives, public officials, legislators, and activists, all of whom must be based locally. “We believe that powerful leadership doesn’t exist in isolation — it’s amplified by the people we uplift and the networks we build,” MBJ Editor-in-Chief Greg Akers wrote in his introduction to the list.
The Power 100 honorees’ profiles were featured in Memphis Business Journal’s Feb. 6 weekly edition.