Sheldon, George F.

George F. Sheldon served as chair of the Department of Surgery of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1984-2001, and as Zack D. Owens Distinguished Professor of Surgery. Sheldon received his medical education from the University of Kansas, with study and positions following at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School, the Kansas University Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and the University of California, San Francisco. Sheldon also served as chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges, president of the Society of Surgical Chairmen, president of the American College of Surgeons, and president of the American Surgical Association. He has published more than 300 articles, book chapters, and other writings.

George F. Sheldon was born on 20 December 1934 to Richard Robert Sheldon and Helen Irene Sheldon. He is descended one one side from the first generation of Czech immigrants in Nebraska and on the other from English and Irish homesteaders in Kansas and Nebraska. He married Ruth Guy on 28 August 28 1959; the couple had three children: Anne Anderson, Julia, and Elizabeth.

Sheldon's medical education began at the University of Kansas, where he received his M.D. in 1961. After postgraduate work at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School and serving as an intern at the Kansas University Medical Center, he continued his career at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Harvard Medical School. From 1971 to 1984, he was promoted from an assistant to a full professor at the University of California. In 1984, he joined the staff of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the Zack D. Owens Distinguished Professor of Surgery and as chair of the Department of Surgery. In 2001, he stepped down as chair, but retained his professorship.

Sheldon is among the fewer than 25 individuals to hold offices in all of the major surgical associations. He has served as chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges, president of the Society of Surgical Chairmen, president of the American College of Surgeons, and president of the American Surgical Association. Other honors include an Award for Distinguished Service to Safety from the National Safety Council and appointment as an Honorable Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh.

Sheldon has also had a prolific career as a writer, publishing more than 300 articles and book chapters. His interests include not only the practice of medicine, but medical history and American history in general.