Division of Surgical Sciences
Brief History
Dr. Howard H. Bradshaw was appointed as the first Professor and Chairman of the newly formed Department of Surgery in 1941 and served in that capacity until 1968. Initially consisting of seven faculties, including anesthesiologists, the department grew in parallel with the expansion of The Medical Center. Dr. Bradshaw was succeeded by Dr. Richard T. Myers as chairman of the Department in 1968. During Dr. Myers' tenure, the faculty grew to 44, and separate sections on cardiothoracic surgery, emergency medicine, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, and urology were established.
In January of 1987, Dr. Myers retired from his position as chairman of surgery. In recognition of his contributions to both the Department of Surgery and The Medical Center, the faculty of the Department endowed the chair of surgery in his name. Dr. Richard H. Dean was recruited to be the third chairman of surgery, and assumed those duties in January 1987. Although the Section on Ophthalmology had become a separate department in the early 1980s, it rejoined the parent surgical body when Surgery was reorganized and elevated to divisional status in 1989.
Elevation of the respective sections of surgical disciplines to Departmental status and of the Department itself to the Division of Surgical Sciences was undertaken by Dr. Dean in 1989 to reflect the continued maturation of the respective disciplines. Since then, the faculty has continued to grow, reaching 88 by July 1995.
The history of surgery at The Wake Forest University School of Medicine (formerly Bowman Gray) comprises 50 years of excellence in clinical care and education and a broadening excellence in laboratory and clinical research. Commitment toward continued growth in scientific investigations is most graphically demonstrated by the establishment of the Center of Excellence in Hypertension Research as the tenth constituent part of the Division of Surgical Sciences. This center was established as an institutional initiative to foster laboratory and clinical research in cardiovascular-related diseases and to establish this medical center as a national leader in hypertension research. Recruitment of Dr. Carlos Ferrario as the Director of the Center and five of his faculty associates from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation has provided the nucleus to succeed in this venture.