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Patricia Numann, M.D., named to the International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame

Patricia J. Numann, M.D., the Lloyd S. Rogers Professor of Surgery at SUNY Upstate Medical University and medical director of University Hospital, has been named to the International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame. A formal induction ceremony will take place June 25 in Washington, D.C.

The International Women in Medicine Hall of Fame, created in 2000 by the American Medical Womens Association, recognizes outstanding women in medicine whose pioneering efforts and visionary leadership have cast them as role models for others. Among the nearly 20 members of the hall of fame are the only women to have served as U.S. Surgeon General, Antonia Novello, M.D., now health commissioner of New York state, and Jocelyn Elders, M.D.

"Dr. Numann's accomplishments in academic medicine and in surgery are exemplary and her leadership on this campus and at the state, national, and international levels is something in which we take great pride," said SUNY Upstate President Gregory L. Eastwood, M.D. "We all have benefitted in many ways from our association with Pat Numann."

Numann, who also holds appointments as SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and SUNY Distinguished Service Professor, is an internationally recognized surgical educator and surgeon. She became the first women ever to serve on the 12 member Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical Association and the first women vice chair and chair of the American Board of Surgery. She is a founding member of the Association for Surgical Education and founded the Association for Women Surgeons. In addition to her many board appointments, Numann has served as second vice president of the American College of Surgeons and president of the Association for Surgical Education.

Numann has received dozens of accolades over her career, including the New York State Women of Accomplishment Award, the (N.Y.) Governor's Woman of Distinction Award, the Nina Starr Braunwald Award of the Association of Women Surgeons and the Physician Service to the Community Award (Onondaga County). The Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) has honored Numann with a scholarship in her name. The Patricia Numann, MD, Medical Student Award is intended to encourage and support female medical students pursuing a career in surgery.

Numann's association with SUNY Upstate and University Hospital spans nearly four decades. She received her medical degree from SUNY Upstate in 1965 and completed her residency in general surgery. In 1970 she joined the staff of University Hospital as its first woman surgeon.

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