Plastic Surgery faculty named to new endowed positions

September 8, 2017

Dr. William Pederson has been named the Samuel Stal, MD Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery, and Dr. Edward Reece has been named the Josephine Abercrombie Endowed Professor in Plastic Surgery Research.

“Both Dr. Pederson and Dr. Reece are exceptionally worthy recipients of these endowed positions,” said Dr. Larry Hollier, associate surgeon-in-chief for clinical affairs and chief of Plastic Surgery at Texas Children’s Hospital, and chief of Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. “We are very fortunate to have received endowment funding from generous donors and hospital leadership in order to recruit and retain the most talented surgeons to care for our patients.”

Samuel Stal, MD Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery

The Samuel Stal, MD Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery was created through the contributions of Texas Children’s Hospital to honor the legacy of Dr. Samuel Stal, who served as chief of Plastic Surgery at both Texas Children’s and Baylor College of Medicine. For more than 30 years, Dr. Stal focused his Texas Children’s practice on helping children with craniofacial, cleft lip and palate deformities. He also created the Texas Children’s Center for Facial Surgery, which accepted all children with facial deformities regardless of their family’s ability to pay.

Pederson is a highly regarded hand and microvascular surgeon with faculty appointments in plastic surgery, orthopedics, neurosurgery and pediatrics at Texas Children’s and Baylor. His clinical interests include the management of vascular problems in the upper extremity, nerve injury and repair including brachial plexus, Volkmann’s ischemic contracture, facial paralysis and microsurgical reconstruction of complex extremity defects.

A leader in his field, Pederson currently serves as president of the American Association for Hand Surgery. Pederson was named a director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery in 2013 and is the chair of the Board’s Hand Surgery Examination Committee. He also serves as a member-at-large on the executive council of the World Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. He has served as president of the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery and has served on the executive council of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Pederson has authored more than 70 papers in peer-reviewed literature and 40 textbook chapters. He is an editor of the textbook “Green’s Operative Hand Surgery,” and serves on the editorial boards of the “Journal of Hand Surgery” and the “Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery.”

Josephine Abercrombie Endowed Professorship in Plastic Surgery Research

The Josephine Abercrombie Endowed Professorship in Plastic Surgery Research was established by Ms. Abercrombie’s son, George Robinson, to honor his mother and the Abercrombie legacy of giving to Texas Children’s and Baylor. J.S. Abercrombie, Josephine’s father, was one of the founders of Texas Children’s Hospital.

Reece is the chief of Adult Plastic Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. He specializes in plastic surgery and surgery of the hand. He is also a member of the Hand Surgery Program at Texas Children’s.

After earning a medical degree and Master’s degree in applied anatomical sciences at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Reece completed his plastic surgery residency at UT Southwestern in Dallas. He went on to train under Dr. David Green at UT San Antonio in hand surgery and microvascular reconstructive surgery. He also earned an Executive MBA degree with an additional certification in health care supply chain from Arizona State University.

Reece conducts research in the areas of peripheral nerves, reconstructive surgery and telehealth as it relates to improving doctor-patient interactions and coordinating efficient care and affordable cost. He has founded several biomedical companies that seek to find efficiency and cost savings for institutions while preserving the highest quality to patients.

Three Endowed Positions in Plastic Surgery

This is the third endowed appointment for the Division of Plastic Surgery at Texas Children’s. Hollier holds the S. Baron Hardy Endowed Chair in Plastic Surgery. Dr. S. Baron Hardy was the first chief of Plastic Surgery at Texas Children’s. The endowment was gift from the T.L.L. Temple Foundation and was championed by Temple Webber, who serves as a T.L.L. Temple Foundation trustee.