The William Maul Measey Professorship of Surgical Research

William Maul MeaseyThe Professorship was established in 1971 through gifts from the Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation in honor of William Maul Measey (1875–1967), an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania Law School Class of 1898.

William Maul Measey, 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.


Sunil SinghalCurrent Chairholder

Sunil Singhal, MD

Dr. Singhal is Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery and the Vice Chair for Translational Research for the Department of Surgery. He is an attending surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Executive Director of the Center for Precision Surgery at the Abramson Cancer Center, Director of the Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratory, and Surgical Director of the University of Pennsylvania Pleural Program. He specializes in thoracic oncology including lung, mediastinal, esophageal, and mesothelial-related surgery. He also cares for patients with chest wall deformities and hyperhidrosis.

Dr. Singhal performs minimally invasive pulmonary surgery (both video-assisted and robotic), mediastinal surgery (disease of the thymus gland), and surgery for pectus excavatum (sunken or funnel chest), a congenital chest wall deformity. His research focuses on preventing recurrences after cancer surgery. To that end, his laboratory studies molecular imaging to identify sources of local recurrences and tumor immunology to modulate suppressive immune populations.

Dr. Singhal has been on multiple national committees and societies and is listed in Philadelphia Magazine's annual Top Docs issue. He has been awarded the Clinical Scholar Award from the Society of University Surgeons and the Clinical Investigator Award from the Society of Surgical Oncology. He has trained several thoracic fellows who currently have faculty positions around the country. He has over 250 peer-reviewed publications and he has received numerous research awards, including the Clinical Research Award from the American College of Chest Physicians, the Fellowship Award from the American Surgical Association, and the Investigator Award from the National Lung Cancer Partnership. 

Dr. Singhal received his BA in Physics and Mathematics from Dartmouth College and his MD from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. He also received an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Previous Chairholders

  • Jeffrey A. Drebin, MD, PhD 2005–2009