Pitt surgical luminary honored

Timothy R. Billiar, George V. Foster Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, associate senior vice chancellor for clinical academics, University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences, is the recipient of the 2023 Society of University Surgeons (SUS) Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest academic accolades in American surgery.

Billiar is internationally recognized as a leading surgeon-scientist and one of the foremost academic surgeons in American surgery. His research highlights include 34 years of continuous National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, over 900 peer-reviewed papers, eight patents and service on dozens of NIH study sections.

He has trained three decades of general surgery residents and has served as chair of the Pitt Department of Surgery for 24 years.

“Congratulations to Dr. Billiar on this tremendous honor,” said Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine. “His outstanding work in research, teaching, leadership, mentoring and clinical excellence reflects the high standards of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.”

He is the university’s second recipient of the SUS Lifetime Achievement Award, joining Richard Simmons, Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Surgery, who was honored in 2009. Six Pitt faculty members have also served as presidents of SUS.

The award will be presented at the Academic Surgical Congress in Washington, D.C., in February 2024.