David S. Sumner, MD
#5: 1981-1982
Dr. Sumner served as Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Peripheral Vascular Surgery at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, Illinois, from 1975 until his retirement in July 1998. In 1984, he was promoted to Distinguished Professor, an honor bestowed on only one other member of the Medical School faculty. He is now Emeritus Professor of Surgery.
In 1954, Dr. Sumner was graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. degree from the University of North Carolina. In 1958, he received his Medical Degree from Johns Hopkins University, where he was AOA. After internship, a research fellowship year, and a year as a resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital, he moved to Seattle, where he completed his surgical training in 1966 at the University of Washington. From 1967 through 1970, he served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal for his work at the Arctic Medical Research Laboratory in Fairbanks, Alaska. Returning to Seattle in 1970, Dr. Sumner was appointed Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1972.
His major interests include hemodynamics, noninvasive testing, carotid artery surgery, and infrainguinal bypass operations. With Dr. D. E. Strandness, Jr., he wrote Hemodynamics for Surgeons. He is a coeditor of Noninvasive Diagnosis of Vascular Disease (with Falls Hershey and Robert W. Barnes) and Lower Limb Ischaemia (with Kenneth A. Myers and Andrew Nicolaides). Dr. Sumner was an associate editor of the first three editions of Robert B. Rutherford’s text, Vascular Surgery, and an assistant editor of the fourth. Contributions to the surgical literature include 160 journal articles, 180 book chapters, and 350 presentations of scientific papers or invited lectures. Dr. Sumner has been visiting professor at more than 30 institutions, including universities in China and South Africa.
Dr. Sumner has served on a number of editorial advisory boards, is a member of more than 15 international, national, or regional scientific societies, and is an honorary member of the Cyprus Vascular Society and the Vascular Society of Southern Africa. He was the Twelfth President of the American Venous Forum (1999-2000). In 1996, he received the Pioneer Award of the Society of Vascular Technology.
Now that he has retired, he has resumed painting in oil and watercolor, hobbies neglected for 30 years.
