The Rhoads–Harrington Professorship of Surgery

The Professorship was created through the generosity of Dolores Harrington and the Mark H. and Blanche M. Harrington Foundation in 2010. At that time, the value of the endowment for the Jonathan E. Rhoads Professorship of Surgery had grown beyond the amount needed to support one professorship. With the addition of funds from the Harrington gift, the Rhoads–Harrington Professorship was established to support an innovative faculty member in the Department of Surgery.

Jonathan E. Rhoads, MD (1908–2002) was a ground-breaking surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania who chaired the Department of Surgery from 1959 to 1972. Dr. Rhoads is credited with numerous medical advances, including an early exploration into the use of antibiotics and factors regulating the level of plasma prothrombin. He also pioneered the development of total parenteral nutrition, a method of intravenous feeding.

The Perelman School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery has long been a leader in surgical research. Today the Department’s research enterprise covers not only robot-assisted surgery and other advanced technology, but also genetics and molecular medicine that offers patients individualized therapy.

Dolores Harrington is an active volunteer and philanthropist supporting both the arts and medicine through the Mark H. and Blanche M. Harrington Foundation. She is a long-time supporter of clinical cancer research at Penn Medicine, particularly of the work of her nephew Brian J. Czerniecki, MD, PhD, the inaugural chairholder, in developing a therapeutic vaccine for breast cancer.

Current Chairholder

Noel N. Williams, MB, BCh, MCh, FRCSI, FRCS

Noel N. Williams, MB, BCh, MCh, FRCSI, FRCS, a clinical professor in the Department of Surgery and director of Bariatric Surgery for Penn Medicine, is the Delaware Valley’s foremost bariatric and one of the country’s preeminent robotic bariatric surgeons.

Dr. Williams is one of the lead surgeons in the minimally invasive esophageal surgery program at Penn Medicine and director of the American College of Surgeons Accredited Education Institute at Penn Simulation. He is also involved in surgical residency training as the associate director for Penn’s General Surgery Residency Program. In addition to his surgical expertise, Dr. Williams’s research interests include quality in bariatric surgery and surgical education.

Dr. Williams joined the Penn faculty in 1997 after completing his training in Ireland. He completed his Surgery residency at the University of Pennsylvania which included a research fellowship in Surgical Oncology at Penn and the Wistar Institute.

Previous Chairholders

• Brian J. Czerniecki, MD, PhD 2011–2016