The founding director of Siteman Cancer Center, he was installed as the 107th president of the world’s largest surgeons’ organization Sept. 26 in Washington, D.C.
Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, FACS, founding director of Siteman Cancer Center, based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and WashU Medicine, has been installed as the 107th president of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the world’s largest organization of surgeons.
Representing approximately 95,000 members in 144 countries, the ACS works to improve the care of surgical patients and uphold standards of care in an ethical and optimal practice environment.
For his presidential year, Eberlein has chosen the theme, “The House of Surgery: Stronger Together.” This theme reflects a commitment to collaboration across surgical disciplines and to advancing patient care through shared expertise at a time of rapid change in policy, technology and clinical practice.
“I am humbled to serve the College and our Fellows with this appointment,” Eberlein said during his installation ceremony on Sept. 26 at the ACS’s Clinical Congress 2026 in Washington, D.C. “I look forward to listening, learning and working with all specialties to make The House of Surgery stronger.”
Eberlein, who also is the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Distinguished Professor and senior associate dean for cancer programs at WashU Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, has been active in the ACS for more than 30 years. He served as president-elect from 2025 to 2026 and, prior to that, as a member of the Board of Governors, as chair of the Board of Regents and, from 2004-2025, as editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. During his tenure at the journal, Eberlein expanded rigorous biostatistical review for manuscripts and strengthened ties with regional surgical societies nationwide, as well as the Excelsior Surgical Society, the formal military surgery specialty society of the ACS.
Outside of the ACS, Eberlein has held leadership roles with the American Board of Surgery, the Advisory Committee to the Board for Surgical Oncology, the Board of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the Society of Surgical Chairs, the American Surgical Association, the Southern Surgical Association and the National Cancer Institute. He served as associate editor of the Annals of Surgical Oncology for 17 years and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2004.
Eberlein earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his internship and residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, including a year as chief resident, and later completed two research fellowships at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School following his training and became the Wilson Professor of Surgery at Harvard and vice chair of surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital before coming to St. Louis, where he would become founding director of Siteman in 1999 and serve as chair of the Department of Surgery at WashU Medicine for almost 25 years.
