Chair of the Department of Surgery

The Chair of the Department of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine serves as the department?s academic and administrative leader and reports directly to the Dean of Yale School of Medicine. The Chair is responsible for the full scope of departmental activities across Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health and works in close partnership with school and health system leadership to advance the missions of patient care, education, and research. The Chair is accountable for ensuring that departmental goals are aligned with evolving institutional strategies and priorities.

As steward of a large and operationally complex clinical enterprise, the Chair is expected to promote integration across hospital campuses, optimize access and efficiency, and support the continued development of high-performing multidisciplinary programs in areas such as cardiac surgery, transplant, and gastrointestinal surgery. The Chair will collaborate closely with Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Health to ensure strong alignment with service line structures, shared accountability for quality and value, and appropriate resourcing of clinical and academic priorities.

The Chair is also expected to foster an environment that supports scientific discovery and faculty development across the career spectrum. This includes recruiting and retaining a diverse cohort of surgeon-scientists and educators, strengthening support structures for early-career faculty, and promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration in research. As an institutional leader, the Chair plays a central role in faculty advancement, mentoring, and retention, and is accountable for fostering a departmental culture grounded in collaboration, accountability, and academic excellence.

In education, the Chair oversees a wide range of residency and fellowship programs and is responsible for ensuring the continued strength and national competitiveness of the department?s training programs. The Chair works in close partnership with the Vice Chair for Education and with medical school leadership to support innovation in curriculum, assessment, and simulation-based training.

The Chair represents the department both internally and externally and plays a key role in philanthropy, alumni engagement, and institutional governance. As the department continues to grow and evolve, the Chair will be expected to articulate a clear strategic vision, promote shared purpose across divisions, and guide the department through a dynamic period of opportunity and change.

The next Chair of the Department of Surgery at Yale will join the institution at a time of momentum and growth, with strong clinical demand, renewed investments in research infrastructure, and an opportunity to shape the department?s next phase of evolution. Key opportunities and challenges include:

• Enhancing collaboration across the medical school and health system.
• Expanding and strategically resourcing clinical operations. 
• Fostering faculty development and innovation.
• Strengthening communication and teamwork across divisions.
• Promoting educational excellence and long-term program competitiveness.

Yale School of Medicine has retained the national executive search firm Isaacson, Miller to assist in this search. To be considered, those interested must apply through the Yale University?s Academic Recruitment job board, which uses Interfolio to accept applications: apply.interfolio.com/167563.

Applicants must upload a CV, including a letter of interest that highlights the applicant?s relevant leadership experience. Review of complete applications will continue until the top candidate(s) have been identified. Applications must be submitted through Interfolio for consideration, but inquiries, nominations, and referrals may be submitted electronically in confidence, to:  https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/yale-school-medicine/chair-department-surgery.