The Board of Governors is the representative body of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The Governors are the eyes and ears of the College, serving a critical role as liaisons between the Board of Regents and the Fellows. Throughout various Board of Governors activities and events, Governors bring forth the voices and views of their surgical colleagues and develop resources to support Fellows.
The membership-at-large nominates 2/3 of the Governors, who are elected during the Annual Meeting of the Members at the ACS Clinical Congress. Certain surgical specialty societies, ACS Chapters, and federal medical services nominate one-third of the Board of Governors.
Governors are an official, direct communications link between the Fellows of the College and the Board of Regents. Throughout their term(s), Governors are focused on attending, communicating, and participating in the following activities:
Governor Attendance
Governor Communication
Governor Participation
ACS Governors must:
A link will be provided by Board of Governors staff.
Provided below is additional Information on the steps involved to attain Governor representation for surgical specialty societies and/or those interested in starting an ACS Chapter.
The prospective chapter must provide:
It is expected that 15 ACS Fellows petitioning will become active members of the new chapter. Download our Steps to Form an ACS Chapter guide for additional information.
Email governors@facs.org to receive the necessary documents to petition for a Governor (and alternate) with the goal of forming a chapter.
A surgical specialty society requesting representation on the Board of Governors must:
As part of the request process, the surgical specialty society must provide:
If more than half of the ACS Fellows with membership in the specialty society are represented by another similar specialty society on the Board of Governors, then the new specialty society is generally not eligible for representation. The applying specialty society is responsible for documenting through membership lists its eligibility for Governor representation. All documents should be sent to governors@facs.org.
For more information, contact governors@facs.org or call 312-202-5360.