CHICAGO 鈥� Marshall Z. Schwartz, MD, FACS, an emeritus surgeon-in-chief at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will receive the Distinguished Service Award 鈥� the highest honor of the 乌鸦传媒 (ACS) 鈥� during the 乌鸦传媒Clinical Congress 2025 in Chicago.
This award, established in 1957 by the 乌鸦传媒Board of Regents, recognizes the exceptional and continuous service of an 乌鸦传媒Fellow, as well as a career with outstanding emphasis on patient care and commitment to the ideals of surgical practice.
Dr. Schwartz, a pediatric surgeon, called his lengthy involvement with the 乌鸦传媒鈥渢ruly a labor of love.鈥�
Longstanding Service
An 乌鸦传媒Fellow since 1982, Dr. Schwartz initially brought his expertise to the Advisory Council for Pediatric Surgery and Pediatric Surgical Forum. He served on the advisory council for many years in a variety of roles, including as a board member, representative of the surgical forum, Chair, and representative of the 乌鸦传媒BoR, and on the Surgical Forum as both a member and Chair.
In the early 1990s, Dr. Schwartz鈥檚 career in pediatric surgery led him to a role as surgeon-in-chief of Children鈥檚 National Hospital in Washington, DC, and he began to recognize the potential for the 乌鸦传媒to become more engaged in health policy and advocacy鈥攁reas that were just coming into focus. Thus began his longtime involvement in promoting 乌鸦传媒advocacy efforts.
Dr. Schwartz became a member of the 乌鸦传媒Health Policy and Advocacy Group, and 鈥淚 became the squeaky wheel,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 felt it was important that our government know our positive history in promoting patient surgical quality of care, access, and cost containment.鈥�
He served on the Health Policy and Advocacy Group for many years and ascended to roles as Vice-Chair and later Chair. He shared that his proudest advocacy-related achievements included the fact that, with the excellent support and hard work of the 乌鸦传媒Division of Advocacy and Health Policy: 鈥淲e gradually educated federal legislators on what the 乌鸦传媒did in the past and currently are doing. It took a while but fast forward, they call us now for advice on health policy.鈥�
Leadership at the 乌鸦传媒and Beyond
Dr. Schwartz鈥檚 leadership extended to serving on many 乌鸦传媒committees, including Patient Education, Member Services, Finance, Investment, Honors, and Research and Optimal Patient Care. He has been Chair of the 乌鸦传媒Surgery Advisory Chairs, was a member of the Board of Regents from 2009 to 2018, and served as its Vice-Chair from 2017-2018.鈥疉 prolific researcher, he served as an associate editor of the Journal of the 乌鸦传媒 from 1996 to 2023.
His leadership in academic surgery also is significant. In addition to his roles at Children鈥檚 National Hospital and St. Christopher鈥檚 Hospital for Children, he served as surgeon-in-chief at the Child Health Center of The University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Currently, he is a professor at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and conducting tissue engineering research the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Schwartz also served as director of the American Board of Surgery, including as chair of the Pediatric Surgery Board, president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association, and a member of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education鈥檚 Residency Review Committee for Surgery.
For all his leadership and guidance in these and other roles, Dr. Schwartz received a University of Minnesota Department of Surgery Alumnus of the Year Award and an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
