[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"840","attributes":{"alt":"","class":"media-image","height":"480","style":"width: 177px; height: 198px; float: left; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;","typeof":"foaf:Image","width":"430"}}]]CHICAGO, Ill., July 11, 2016 — Vascular surgeon Dr. Ronald M. Fairman was elected president of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) at the organization’s 2016 annual meeting in June.
As president of the 5,400-member organization, Dr. Fairman will chair a board of directors of more than two dozen vascular surgery leaders, and will oversee four governing councils, 26 committees and 400 volunteer members. In addition, he will lead the efforts of more than 20 full-time SVS employees in the society’s Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices.
Long active as an SVS leader, Dr. Fairman has served on the executive committee, the board of directors, and various councils and committees. During his three years as program chair for the Vascular Annual Meeting, abstract submissions and meeting attendance by both academic and community-based vascular surgeons increased substantially.
"This is a most exciting time to be in a leadership position at the SVS in that it coincides with significant and rapid changes in health care delivery, and with the hiring of a new executive director, Ken Slaw, PhD.,” Dr. Fairman said. “These transitions prompt us to take a fresh look at our core values and the future vision of SVS, as well as how we achieve acceleration toward our mission goals of promoting excellence within our specialty, achieving the best possible outcomes for our patients and increasing access to appropriate care for patients suffering from the entire spectrum of vascular disease.”
The way SVS works continues to undergo change as well, he noted, to meet the changing needs and demographics of the membership.
“We are focusing on increasing the value, benefits, and level of engagement of SVS membership, how we identify, elect, and prepare our future leaders, building productive relationships with other scientific societies, as well as other partners who support our mission, and increasing awareness of vascular surgeons and SVS in the public eye through branding, education, patient advocacy, and vascular wellness initiatives,” he said.
Dr. Fairman has a multidimensional practice at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Medicine. He is chief of Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, one of the largest U.S. clinical providers using endovascular techniques to treat thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms and offering carotid interventional programs using both endarterectomy as well as stenting. He also has a dual faculty appointment, as Clyde F. Barker–William Maul Measey professor in surgery and professor in radiology. In addition, Dr. Fairman’s research has been pivotal to key clinical trials and life-saving improvements in stent technology. In 2015, he was inducted as a member of the Academy of Master Clinicians, Penn Medicine’s highest clinical honor. He was recently elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society, an unusual distinction for a physician surgeon.
After graduating Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., Dr. Fairman earned his medical degree at Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He completed his residency and fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Fairman has been married for 36 years to Julie Fairman, PhD., a tenured professor at the University of Pennsylvania. They have two sons, both attending the University of Pennsylvania. Alex is a rising senior in the School of Medicine, and Connor is a rising senior majoring in international relations and East Asian studies. Dr. Fairman and his family enjoy traveling together and fly fishing.
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The Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) is a 5,400-member, not-for-profit professional medical society, composed primarily of specialty-trained vascular surgeons, which seeks to advance excellence and innovation in vascular health through education, advocacy, research and public awareness. The Society is based in Chicago, Illinois.