Kaohsiung-Taiwan-based neurosurgeon Kwan Aij-lie (???) assumed the post of world president of the International College of Surgeons (ICS) on Friday, becoming the first female leader of the Chicago-based organization since its establishment 87 years ago, according to Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU).
Kwan received a confirmation certificate of her new ICS position on Friday during a ceremony at KMU, where she works as a professor, the university said in a statement released Saturday.
With the assumption of that position, Kwan became the first female leader of the ICS and the second Taiwan-based surgeon to head the global organization, after Lee Chun-jean (???), who held the post from 2001 to 2002, according to the university.
In the statement, Kwan was quoted as saying that she would continue to help provide medical services to rural areas around the world and to advance surgical technologies.
Born in Indonesia, Kwan studied at KMU and became the first female neurosurgeon in Taiwan, the university said.
She joined the ICS over 20 years ago and became its world president-elect when the organization’s board of governors met in Kaohsiung in November 2018, according to the organization.
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Kwan has been holding online seminars and meetings for ICS members to share information and findings about the disease, and she has helped provide resources for medical workers in Indonesia, the university said.
For her contribution to promoting international medical cooperation, Kwan received a Friend of Foreign Service Medal from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in February 2021, the university said.
The ICS was founded in 1935 by Max Thorek with a mission to “foster worldwide surgical excellence through education, training, fellowship and humanitarian efforts,” according to its website.
The organization has over 4,000 members in 134 countries, the website says.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel