Board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon Dr. Steven Williams, M.D., will become the first African American ever to helm the world’s largest plastic surgery specialty organization.
Dr. Williams will take over as President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) in 2023, the surgeon announced Tuesday.
Since 1947, Presidents of the Society have served one-year terms.
Terms typically begin at the society’s “Plastic Surgery, The Meeting,” an annual educational and networking conference attended by plastic surgeons from around the world.
“Presidency of ASPS is a pinnacle career achievement,” Dr. Williams shared in a news release.
“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,” he said.
Dr. Williams is currently in private practice in Dublin, California, where he founded Tri Valley Plastic Surgery. The practice appreciates overall average patient ratings of 4.5-4.8 out of 5 stars.
Dr. Williams was first elected to the society’s board membership 15 years ago, then becoming its first-ever African American board member.
The Yale University School of Medicine alumnus and six-year residency completion chaired the Society’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee from 2018-2020, and previously served as the society’s Vice President of Membership and its Vice President of Private Practice.
The American Society of Plastic Surgeons was founded in 1931 and, until 1999, known as the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.
Worldwide, more than 11,000 plastic surgeons are members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, including 93 percent of board-certified plastic surgeons in the United States.
ASPS members are required to hold board-certification, meet annual continuing education requirements, operate only in state-licensed and accredited surgical facilities, and uphold a strict code of ethics.
In April 2022, the nation’s third-largest plastic surgery society, The Aesthetic Society, elected its first-ever female president, Dr. Jennifer Walden, after 55 years of operation. It was founded in 1967 and has a membership of roughly 2,200.
Corrected, Nov. 5, 2022: The word “society” was replaced with “surgeon” in the second paragraph. Dr. Williams’s Tri Valley Plastic Surgery, not the ASPS, made the announcement via press release, Tuesday.