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Elected Leader Information

Candidates for Elected Office Slated by the Nominating Committee

Individuals who have determined they would like to be considered for a leadership position are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical behavior throughout the application and interview process.

Candidate-to-Candidate Interaction

  • Candidates are prohibited from communicating with other candidates with the express intent to influence another candidate to withdraw from consideration for an open position or apply for a different position on the slate to minimize competition for an open position they hope to win.
  • Candidates who have been contacted by another candidate for this purpose are required to report the interaction to the Co-Chairs of the Nominating Committee. The candidate soliciting may be deemed ineligible for further consideration for the position.

Lobbying Related to Candidates Applying for Leadership Positions

Individuals seeking leadership positions are subject to the following guidelines:

  • Candidates are strictly prohibited from contacting any member of the Nominating Committee throughout the vetting process. Any questions or concerns about the process shall be directed to either the Staff Liaison or the Co-Chairs of the Committee.
  • Candidates must submit two letters of recommendation from individuals and/or organizations and may submit a third. Failure to submit two letters of recommendation by the established deadline will result in disqualification. The Nominating Committee will not be provided with written endorsements, including letters of recommendation, from the ASPS Trustees, ASPS/PSF Board of Directors or fellow Nominating Committee members.

If the Nominating Committee Chairs are made aware of allegations of any violation of this policy, these allegations will be referred to the Governance Committee. The Governance Committee will determine appropriate consequences, which may include notifying the electorate that a violation of the policy has occurred. If the Governance Committee agrees a violation has occurred, they will notify the ASPS/PSF Board of Directors of such violation and actions that need to be taken in response.

Letters of Recommendation

Applicants are required to submit a minimum of two letters of recommendation, but no more than three letters of recommendation shall be provided to the Nominating Committee. These LORs must be sent to nominations@plasticsurgery.org by the March 23, 2025, deadline. Note that this date is 14 days after the application deadline. Applicants for whom at least two letters of recommendation are not received by the deadline will be disqualified from further consideration.

The Nominating Committee members will not be provided with any written endorsements from the ASPS Trustees, the ASPS Board of Directors or The PSF Board of Directors.

Interview Sessions

The ASPS/PSF Nominating Committee has set aside specific dates for the interview sessions. All interviews will be conducted via Zoom videoconference. Interested candidates must make themselves available for their interview on the day and time established by the Nominating Committee.

Interviews with semifinalists for the elected positions are scheduled to take place between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM CT on the following dates:

  • Saturday, May 17, 2025
  • Saturday, May 31, 2025 (tentative)
  • Saturday, June 7, 2025

The specific interview session day and times will not be known until late April, but interviews with the semifinalists for the Board and Trustee positions are expected to take place May 17, 2025, and interviews with the semifinalists for the Judicial Council, Ethics Committee and Audit Committee positions are expected to take place on June 7, 2025. Typically, only two interview sessions are needed, but every term is different. If three interview sessions are needed, the second interview session will take place on May 31, 2025.

Work of the Nominating Committee

Positions Slated or Appointed by the Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee shall act as a search firm by vetting talent for open positions to be elected by Society members. Positions slated for election by Society members (follow the link to access the job description) are listed below:

In addition to the slated positions for election, the Nominating Committee selects the ASPS and PSF Members-at-Large for the ASPS/PSF Audit Committee each year.

Special Considerations for President-Elect Applicants

Applicants to the ASPS or PSF President-Elect position shall be limited to those who will have completed one (1) or more years of service as ASPS/PSF Board Vice Presidents immediately prior to their term as President-Elect. If the ASPS/PSF Board of Directors finds that there are no suitable candidates that meet these criteria in Phase 1, they may select among individuals who have demonstrated exemplary service to the organization currently serving as a Committee Chair or Chair of an Assembly or an individual who has served as a Board Vice President within the prior two (2) governance years but did not ascend through the presidential line.

How do I get placed on the slate for one of the ASPS/PSF elected positions?

To encourage as broad a candidate pool as possible, a call for applications will be distributed via email to each eligible Society member. The Phase 2 call for applications is typically distributed in February.

The Nominating Committee shall interview the semifinalists for each elected position. Members who have served on ASPS or PSF committees, especially those who have served on committees related to the position's portfolio, shall be given greater consideration.

Candidates must abide by the Candidate Conduct Policy to avoid disqualification.

Diversity Goals

ASPS and The PSF value racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and age diversity, as well as diversity in perspective, thought and personality.

Both in the selection of members to the Nominating Committee and in the selection of candidates for leadership positions by the Nominating Committee, we will strive to select individuals who reflect the diversity of the general membership. Diversity, including diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, religion sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, economic status, employment type, geography and experience level, is actively sought and encouraged.

In the selection of candidates, the Nominating Committee shall also be sensitive to institutional diversity and their relationship in terms of succession to the presidency.

How does the Nominating Committee vet the elected positions?

The Nominating Committee shall consider the critical elements outlined below in their decision-making process.

  • Attendance on Board of Directors or committee calls and in-person meetings
    • Attendance at Advocacy Summits and legislative fly-ins shall be considered for candidates for the Board Vice President of Health Policy and Advocacy position
  • Evaluation results (for Board positions only)
  • Any remediation required during their time as a Society member
  • History of service to ASPS/PSF
    • Any significant or relevant history during their time as a Society member
    • Activity within ASPS/PSF
    • Assessment of contribution/leadership, in addition to attendance, and any noteworthy contributions to ASPS/PSF (task force participant/chair, etc.)
    • Demonstration of ongoing leadership development training such as Leadership Tomorrow, Pathways to Leadership, Essentials of Leadership, ACS/ASPS Brandeis program, etc.
  • History of relevant service outside ASPS/PSF
    • Does the Ethics Committee or Judicial Council candidate have relevant experience elsewhere?
    • Does the Trustee candidate have sufficient experience as a former officer of ASPS or another major plastic surgery-related organization?
  • Letters of recommendation (two are required, the third is optional)
  • Foundation and PlastyPAC (if U.S. citizen) donation history
  • Quality of narrative (from the application)
  • Curriculum Vitae (provided as an attachment to the application)
  • Interview
  • Diversity of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, practice type, geography and experience level is actively encouraged, and Nominating Committee members shall strive to ensure diverse representation of Society members
  • Evaluation of the applicant's social media/website presence
  • Whether the applicant has applied previously and, if so, for what position

For purposes of Phase 1, in addition to the aforementioned "critical elements," the Nominating Committee and the ASPS/PSF Presidential Line will be provided with the published position description and scope of responsibility for each office under consideration, along with a statement of accomplishments or achievements in their current role from each candidate.

Board Evaluations

In addition to the critical elements noted above, candidates for consideration for a Board position shall be evaluated by Society members and staff with whom they have worked in an ASPS/PSF volunteer leadership capacity to include:

  • Executive Leadership Team
  • Committee chairs under whom they have served
  • ASPS/PSF Board Directors
  • Staff Liaisons

Candidate Scorecards

Candidate Scorecards have been developed to aid Nominating Committee members with their decision-making by organizing the important elements to be considered when deciding the future leadership of the Society and Foundation. The goal is to make the process more consistent so that all candidates are judged on a broad range of merits demonstrating their suitability for leadership without overly weighing the decision based on the interview alone. There are three versions – one for President-Elect candidates, one for the Board Vice President candidates and a third for candidates for all other positions. The three scorecards are attached as appendices to the Nominating Committee Standard Operating Procedures.

Meet the 2025 Nominating Committee

Society members elected the five Regional Representatives in July 2024. The Presidential Line of the Society and Foundation and the Trustees each elected a representative in September 2024. Each of the three Assemblies of the ASPS Council of Representatives (Member Sections, National and Specialty Societies and State and Regional Societies) elected two representatives at their meetings in September 2024. The ASPS/PSF Board of Directors designated the Carryover Member and the PSF Board of Directors elected a Public Member. The ASPS and PSF Immediate Past Presidents serve as Co-Chairs.

The members listed below serve as the ASPS/PSF Nominating Committee for the 2025 leadership term from September 30, 2024, to October 12, 2025.

Steven H. Williams, MD
Co-Chair, Immediate Past ASPS President
Tri Valley Plastic Surgery
Dublin, CA

Scot B. Glasberg, MD, FACS
Co-Chair, Immediate Past PSF President
Private Practice
New York, NY

Jonathan A. Black, MD
State and Regional Societies Representative
University of Virginia Medical Center
Charlottesville, VA

Harvey W. Chim, MD
Southeast Regional Representative
University of Florida College of Medicine
Gainesville, FL

Ernest S. Chiu, MD, FACS
Member Sections Representative
NYU Langone Medical Center
New York, NY

Carrie Kai-Cheng Chu, MD
Southwest Regional Representative
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, TX

Carolyn De La Cruz, MD
National and Specialty Societies Representative
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, PA

Jorge De La Torre, MD, MSHQS, FACS
State and Regional Societies Representative
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL

Gregory R.D. Evans, MD, FACS
West Regional Representative
University of California Irvine
Orange, CA

Karol A. Gutowski, MD, FACS
Midwest Regional Representative
Private Practice
Glenview, IL

Armen Kasabian, MD
Presidential Line Representative
Norwell Health
Great Neck, NY

Howard Levinson, MD, FACS
Carryover Member (PSF)
Duke University Hospital, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center
Norfolk, VA

Adit Parasuram
PSF Public Member

Ivona Percec, MD, PhD
Northeast Regional Representative
University of Pennsylvania Health System
Philadelphia, PA

Melissa M. Poh, MD
Trustee Representative
Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA

Richard J. Redett, MD
National and Specialty Societies Representative
John Hopkins Hospital
Baltimore, MD

Loren S. Schechter, MD
Member Sections Representative
Rush University Medical Center
Highland Park, IL

Prospective candidates who may be interested in applying for a position under the Nominating Committee's purview should be mindful that the Candidate Conduct Policy strictly prohibits candidates from contacting any member of the Nominating Committee throughout the nominating process and that questions or concerns about the process should be directed to the Nominating Committee Co-Chairs or the Nominating Committee Staff Liaison at nominations@plasticsurgery.org.


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