We are pleased to announce that following a national search, John T. Mullen, MD, FACS, has been named Chair of the Department of Surgery at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in the role previously held by Sandra Wong. He will join us in August.
In this role, Dr. Mullen will be responsible for the overall operational leadership and strategic direction of the Department of Surgery, including the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered clinical care across all surgical service lines, as well as research and medical education. Through his leadership position within Geisel, he will oversee faculty development and mentoring and champion research programs within the department.
Dr. Mullen will also be nominated for appointment to the William N. and Bessie Allyn Professor in Surgery at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. This endowed professorship was established through a generous gift from Dartmouth College graduate William G. Allyn D ’32 in honor of his parents.
Dr. Mullen comes to us from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where he currently serves as the Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Surgery and the John Homans Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is a surgical oncologist who is nationally and internationally recognized as an expert in the surgical treatment of upper GI cancers and soft tissue and retroperitoneal sarcomas. He has been successful in conducting a wide range of investigation, from clinical to translational to surgical education research, and he has received funding from the NIH and private foundations to do so.
Dr. Mullen’s extensive leadership experience in the field of surgery includes previously serving as the Program Director of the General Surgery Residency at the MGH for nearly 14 years and currently serving as the Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs and Co-Chair of the Executive Compensation Committee in the Department of Surgery at the MGH. He also serves as a member of the MGB Department of Surgery Integration Task Force. On a national level, Dr. Mullen is the current President of the Halsted Society.
Dr. Mullen has demonstrated a deep commitment to the education and training of the next generation of surgeons. He has been an active member of national committees in developing curricula, assessment tools, and innovative training paradigms for general surgery trainees and has served as the Chair of the Training Committee for the Society of Surgical Oncology, charged with the oversight of more than 60 breast surgical oncology fellowship programs in the US as well as a variety of educational and mentorship offerings.
He has received three prestigious awards in recognition of his accomplishments as a surgical educator, including the 2011 and 2022 Faculty Teaching Awards in the Department of Surgery at MGH and the 2014 Partners Program Director of the Year Award. He has also been an Associate Examiner for the American Board of Surgery Certifying Board Examination Committee since 2014.
Dr. Mullen received his medical degree from the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency and a postdoctoral research fellowship at the MGH, followed by a fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Please join us in welcoming John to Dartmouth Health and Geisel. We also want to take this opportunity to thank Thadeus “Ted” Trus, MD, for his dedicated leadership of the department during this time of transition.
Duane Compton, PhD, Dean, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Edward J. Merrens, MD, Chief Clinical Officer, Dartmouth Health