The John Rhea Barton Professorship of Surgery

John Rhea BartonCreated in 1877 through a bequest of Susan R. Barton, the widow of John Rhea Barton, MD, this Professorship was the first endowed chair in surgery in the U.S. and the first chair at the Perelman School of Medicine. It is traditionally occupied by the Chairman of the Department of Surgery.

John Rhea Barton, MD (1796–1871) graduated from the Perelman School of Medicine in 1818 and commenced his surgical career that same year as the appointed surgeon of the Almshouse of Philadelphia. Dr. Barton joined the Pennsylvania Hospital Surgical Staff in 1823 and worked under the renowned Philip Syng Physick, MD.

Dr. Barton’s work in the healing of joint injuries was noted throughout the medical community. He is credited with the development of the “Barton Bandage,” a figure-eight bandage to support an injured jaw, and the “bran dressing,” which aided in the treatment of leaking compound fractures. An article published by Dr. Barton on wrist injury led to the reference of a specific injury—the “Barton fracture.”

DeMatteo photoCurrent Chairholder:

Ronald P. DeMatteo, MD, FACS 

Dr. Ronald DeMatteo is the John Rhea Barton Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. DeMatteo is a renowned expert surgical oncologist who specializes in treating diseases of the liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreas as well as abdominal sarcomas. He was the Vice Chair of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering for 11 years before returning to Penn, where he had been a resident, in 2017. His clinical research focuses on cancers of the liver, bile duct, gallbladder, and pancreas. He has spent 23 years studying gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs), soft tissue tumors found in the gastrointestinal tract and the most common human sarcoma. He has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for the last 20 years and has led several national trials testing the benefit of imatinib mesylate (GLEEVEC) following surgery for GIST, including the pivotal American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z9001 (Alliance) study.  

Dr. DeMatteo’s academic training includes a BA from Johns Hopkins University and an MD from Weill Cornell Medical College. He completed his surgery residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and a surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Over the course of his career, Dr. DeMatteo has achieved many honors, including recognition as one of Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors for Cancer in America every year from 2013 to present. He is currently Treasurer of the Society of Surgical Oncology and a member of the Association of American Physicians, the National Academy of Medicine, the Society of Clinical Surgery, and the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. DeMatteo has trained over 40 individuals in his lab and over 100 clinical fellows. He has over 500 scientific publications, including many featured in top-tier journals such as Lancet, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Journal of Experimental Medicine. 

Previous Chairholders

  • D. Hayes Agnew, MD 1877–1889
  • John Ashhurst, Jr., MD 1889–1900
  • J. William White, MD 1900–1910
  • Edward B. Martin, MD 1910–1918
  • John Blair Deaver, MD 1918–1922
  • Charles Harrison Frazier, MD 1922–1936
  • Eldridge Lyon Eliason, MD 1936–1945
  • Isidore S. Ravdin, MD 1945–1959
  • Jonathan E. Rhoads, MD 1959–1972
  • William T. Fitts, MD 1972–1975
  • Leonard D. Miller, MD 1975–1983
  • Clyde F. Barker, MD 1983–2001
  • Larry R. Kaiser, MD, FACS 2001–2008
  • Jeffrey A. Drebin, MD, PhD 2009–2017