About Me

Welcome to my Web page. We all want to know about the physicians who treat us, so I’m pleased you have this chance to find out a bit more about me.

Biography

I was born in Leominster, Massachusetts. I graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, and then Dartmouth College, where I competed on the varsity ski team as a ski jumper and cross-country skier, and received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and classics. Prior to becoming a physician, I worked as a commercial fisherman and whaler in Greenland, and as an Outward Bound instructor. After my plastic surgery residency, I spent several years in practice in New Haven, Connecticut. I joined Kaiser Permanente in 1990. I currently serve as the Southern California director of craniofacial service, and chief of plastic surgery at the Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center. I love to teach. As a clinical professor in plastic surgery at USC, I have the opportunity to teach young surgeons their craft. The high point of my year is always my volunteer mission work in developing countries, where I operate on children with clefts, and teach foreign surgeons how to care for these children. Over the years, I’ve worked in many countries—Vietnam, Cambodia, Kenya, Morocco, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Honduras, India, Ethiopia, and the Philippines.

About my practice

Even though my practice includes a wide variety of plastic and reconstructive surgery, my specialty is maxillofacial and craniofacial surgery. Half of my members are children. As the director of the Southern California cleft lip and palate team, I see many children with those deformities. I served as the president of the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons (ASMS), and have served on the board of directors for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). I’m also senior oral board examiner for the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

How I thrive

I’m an avid skier, runner, and mountain climber. In 2003, I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro—the highest peak in Africa—and for my 60th birthday, I hiked 110 miles over the Alps through France, Italy, and Switzerland