The Henry Royster–William Maul Measey Professorship of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery

The bequest of Mrs. Ethel F. Royster, wife of Henry P. Royster, MD, together with gifts from his friends and students, the Division of Plastic Surgery and the Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation, established the Professorship in 2002. The chair supports a faculty member with noteworthy expertise in the area of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

A graduate of the Perelman School of Medicine Class of 1935, Dr. Royster (1909–1999) served with the 20th General Hospital, the major military hospital organized and run by Penn Medicine to provide medical care for the American, British, and Chinese forces in northeastern India. The Hospital won acclaim for achieving a low mortality rate for its 73,000 patients despite primitive conditions. The Roysters met while serving at the Hospital.

Dr. Royster helped develop plastic surgery from its roots in battlefield treatment for burned and injured soldiers and served as Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for more than 20 years. He established the Division of Plastic Surgery’s first residency training program in the early 1950s and served as President of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons.

William Maul Measey (1875–1967), a distinguished corporate attorney in Philadelphia, created the Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation in 1958 to honor the memory of his parents. Since the Foundation supports several colleges, universities, schools of medicine, and hospitals in the Philadelphia area, the Measey name has become synonymous with the furtherance of medical education in the region.

Current Chairholder
Joseph M. Serletti, MD

Joseph M. Serletti, MD is Chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery and Vice Chair for Finance in the Department of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. His areas of expertise are breast reconstruction and aesthetic surgery. Dr. Serletti received his BS in Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University and his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He then completed a craniofacial fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Serletti was Chairman of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Rochester before joining Penn as the fifth Chief of Plastic Surgery in 2005.

Dr. Serletti is a pioneer in the field of free flap autogenous breast reconstruction, currently using the most advanced muscle-preserving techniques. He is internationally recognized for his work in reconstructive microsurgery, which in addition to breast reconstruction, includes head and neck and extremity reconstruction. He has been a distinguished lecturer and visiting professor at a multitude of prestigious medical institutions. He is certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.