USAR Major General (Retired) Jonathan Woodson, MD, MSS, FACS, was honored with the ACS Distinguished Lifetime Military Contribution Award during the ACS Clinical Congress 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts. Established by the Board of Regents in 2018, the award is selectively conferred based on merit, rather than annually.
“To think that the College would honor me with a lifetime achievement award is unexpected, and I’m very humbled by it and very honored,” said Dr. Woodson, who is the fourth recipient of the award.
Renowned for his significant contributions to both military and civilian surgical care, Dr. Woodson is a quadruple-board-certified surgeon whose career has intertwined military service, surgical practice, and leadership in education. Dr. Woodson attained board certification in internal medicine, general surgery, surgical critical care, and vascular surgery, and he completed a fellowship at the Health Services Research Institute of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, DC, and later, a master’s degree in strategic studies from the US Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
At present, Dr. Woodson is the president of the Uniformed Services University (USU) of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, where he leads the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine and its associated graduate programs in the biomedical sciences, public health, nursing, dentistry, and allied health. Prior to assuming this role in 2022, Dr. Woodson was appointed as a member of the USU Board of Regents in 2016 and served as its chair from 2019 to 2021.
Dr. Woodson’s military achievements span several countries. He joined the military in 1986 as a Captain and served for 36 years, retiring as a Major General of the US Army Reserve and Commander of the US Army Reserve Medical Command of Pinellas Park, Florida, in 2022.
During his military career, Dr. Woodson was deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Storm, to Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, as well as to Kosovo.
Additionally, in 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Woodson the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and Director of the Tricare Management Activity in the US Department of Defense, a role he held until 2016. In that role, Dr. Woodson solidified the alliance between the Military Health System and the ACS – the Military Health Service Strategic Partnership American College of Surgeons – to ensure that surgeons are prepared to provide optimal care to patient injured on and off the battlefield.
