Dr. Benjamin Starnes Elected WVS President

Dr. Benjamin Starnes

October 15, 2019

Dr. Benjamin W. Starnes, Professor and Chief, Division of Vascular Surgery, was passed the Edwin J. Wylie Gavel of presidency for the Western Vascular Society (WVS). He is the 35th society president and will preside over the 35th WVS Annual Meeting in September 2020 in Santa Monica, CA.

Dr. Starnes expresses, “Given the known rich and colorful history of this very special membership, I am deeply humbled and appreciative to have been elected to this highest position within the Western Vascular Society. I consider this to be one of the highlights of my career as a vascular surgeon.”

The Edwin J. Wylie Gavel was given to the society at the 1990 Coronado meeting. President at the time was Dr. Ronald Stoney who used oak from his ranch in California to create a gavel to commemorate Edwin J. Wylie, a pioneer in American surgery. Wylie was a senior vascular surgeon at the University of California at San Francisco and a mentor to many of the surgical leaders in the society. Dr. Starnes’ name will be engraved on the gavel this year joining other University of Washington leaderss in vascular surgery who served the society including 1998 President D. Eugene Strandness, Jr, MD and 2008 President Alexander W. Clowes, MD. Also of mention is the role of Eugene Zieler, MD in WVS, who was a founding member of the society.