By Mekhi Abbott,
Special to the AFRO,
mabbott@afro.com
In the waning months of 2023, Dr. Stephen Williams became the first Black person named president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
Williams has served as the president of ASPS since Oct. 30, 2023. According to Tri Valley Plastic Surgery, an organization and practice that Williams founded, the new ASPS president aims to make the organization more agile and responsive. Williams is looking to implement technology initiatives to further enhance resources available to member surgeons and broaden the reach of ASPS to sister organizations. He also will work to improve the society’s accessibility and responsiveness to a more diverse population.
“By leading ASPS, Dr. Williams is exhibiting the possibilities and opportunities that Black people and other minorities can achieve in healthcare and [he] will create a lasting impact on emphasizing quality patient-centered care for diverse patient backgrounds,” said Hawa Ba, a registered travel nurse, when asked about the impact of having Dr. Williams as president of ASPS.
Williams did his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College and received his medical degree from Yale University. He was the first Black graduate of Yale’s plastic surgery program. Prior to being promoted to president of ASPS, he was an active member of ASPS for 15 years. In the past he served as vice president of membership, diversity committee chair and vice president of aesthetic surgery.
“Presidency of ASPS is a pinnacle career achievement,” said Williams on Tri Valley Plastic Surgery’s website about his historic promotion. “For me personally, it’s an achievement to be the first African American person to be president at ASPS. It’s an incredible sense of honor, duty and pride. I’m really standing on the shoulders of people who came before me.”
ASPS is the largest organization of board-certified plastic surgeons in the world with over 11,000 physician members. In the United States specifically, ASPS comprises more than 92 percent of all board-certified plastic surgeons.
Ba said that “having Black medical professionals in high positions is essential to creating safe environments where patients are accurately advocated for,” and because they are able to do the work of “addressing racial disparities among minority groups to prevent adverse outcomes in healthcare.”