Dr. Michael G. Stewart, vice dean and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, has been appointed the executive vice president of the American Rhinologic Society (ARS).
ARS is the principal professional association in the United States for rhinologists, who study disorders of the nose, sinuses and associated structures. The executive vice president is appointed by the ARS board for a renewable term of three years and serves as the organization’s main operating officer. The appointment became effective in June.
“I am pleased and honored to be asked to serve the American Rhinologic Society as its executive vice president,” Dr. Stewart said. “The ARS has grown from a small academic subspecialty society to having a major international presence in the field, and I look forward to working with the administrative staff, the board and leadership to help chart the course for even greater success in the future.”
Rhinology began to establish itself as a subspecialty of otolaryngology (ear-nose-and-throat medicine) in the 1940s. In 1954, the ARS organized as the first professional association for this field, and became a model for the many other national and international rhinologic societies that would soon form around the world. The ARS provides training and continuing medical education to doctors in rhinology, holds three meetings for members annually, and awards grants for rhinology research.
Dr. Stewart, who is also a professor of healthcare policy and research at Weill Cornell Medicine and otolaryngologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, has previously served on the ARS board of directors. His medical career began in the late 1980s after he received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins Medicine, and he has been the principal investigator for highly cited studies in otolaryngology and rhinology, with an emphasis on quality of life and outcomes research.
“It was my privilege to lead ARS’s search for an executive vice president, and Dr. Stewart stood out from a group of highly qualified candidates,” said ARS president Dr. James Palmer, who is professor and director of the Division of Rhinology in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “Dr. Stewart has exemplary experience as a leader in all aspects of our field, from journal editorship to national and international leadership positions, and I’m confident in his ability to lead us into our next stage of growth as an organization.”