Cunningham, Rotondo named to national association

Dr. Paul Cunningham

GREENVILLE, N.C. — Dr. Paul Cunningham, dean of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, and Dr. Michael Rotondo, chair of surgery at ECU, were inducted today into the prestigious American Surgical Association.

Their induction took place at the association’s annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla.

Founded in 1880, the ASA is the nation’s oldest and most prestigious surgical organization. Its members include the nation’s most prominent surgeons from the country’s leading academic medical institutions; many are chairs of the surgery departments at these institutions. Membership also includes leading surgeons from around the world.

Cunningham was named dean at ECU in 2008. Before that, he was chair of the surgery department at State University of New York-Upstate Medical University. He was a faculty member at ECU from 1981 until leaving in 2002 for SUNY.

Dr. Walter Pories, a professor of surgery at ECU, the former chair of surgery at ECU who hired Cunningham in 1981 and a member of the ASA, said membership is limited to surgeons who have made major contributions to surgical care, research and education.

“Dean Cunningham is most deserving,” Pories said. “He has excelled in all three areas. He is a skilled surgeon and a thoughtful and gentle physician. He has been a leader in research in the areas of trauma, transplantation and bariatric surgery. His contribution to education is reflected by his appointment as our dean.”

Rotondo came to ECU in 1999 from the University of Pennsylvania to serve as chief of the section of trauma and surgical critical care in the Department of Surgery. He was named chair of surgery in 2005 and is also director of the Center of Excellence for Trauma and Surgical Critical Care of University Health Systems of Eastern Carolina and its flagship, Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

“Dr. Rotondo’s leadership in American surgery has been duly honored by his induction into this exclusive organization,” said Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood, a cardiothoracic surgeon, director of the East Carolina Heart Institute and a member of ASA. “ECU is fortunate to have three other surgeons as members of this association. This places ECU in an enviable place among nationally recognized surgical leaders.

Dr. Michael Rotondo