Effective May 19, 2023, Dr. Michael O. Meyers, MD, has been named the James F. and Alice B. Newsome Distinguished Professor.
Dr. Meyers’ specialties focus on serving those with gastrointestinal malignancy including esophageal, gastric, colon and rectal cancer, liver cancer, and melanoma. In addition to serving in the Division of Surgical Oncology, Dr. Meyers is the General Surgery Residency Program Director. He was a recipient of the 2022 UNC Health Care / UNC Faculty Physicians Award for Carolina Care Excellence.
The James F. and Alice B. Newsome Professorship in Surgical Oncology honors the memory of Dr. James “Turk” F. Newsome, who was a skilled and compassionate surgeon and distinguished teacher and mentor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine for 37 years.
A North Carolina native, Dr. Newsome was an undergraduate at Carolina in the 1940s where he was Student Body President and All-ACC football player for the Tar Heels. After earning his bachelor’s degree in 1944 and his CMED in 1947 at UNC, helped establish the UNC Division of Surgical Oncology and paved the way for its current and future success. Dr. Newsome was one of the first residents trained by Dr. Nathan A. Womack, the first Chair of Surgery at UNC. During his career at Carolina, Dr. Newsome made many contributions to surgery and cancer care, publishing his work in JAMA and Annals of Surgery as well as being the driving force behind the creation of the Cancer Registry for North Carolina. For his efforts, Dr. Newsome won many awards including the Distinguished Service Award from the American Cancer Society in 1978.
The fund was established in 1998 to support a term professorship that provided support for a distinguished faculty member in the Division of Surgical Oncology. In an effort led by the late Mrs. Alice B. Newsome, gifts from Dr. and Mrs. Newsome’s family, friends, and colleagues elevated the term professorship in 2004. The professorship serves as a meaningful and lasting tribute to Dr. Newsome’s legacy at UNC and Mrs. Newsome’s generosity and commitment to helping others.
Learn more about Dr. Michael Meyers at his professional profile