Annual Meeting Reviews
SPA Myron Yaster Lifetime Achievement Award
By Cheryl K. Gooden, MD
Member, Board of Directors
The Myron Yaster Lifetime Achievement Award is an annual award that had its inception in 2014. A little more than a year ago, the Board of Directors of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia approved the naming of the award after its first recipient, Dr. Myron Yaster. The eligibility criteria for this award include more than 20 years of practice in Pediatric Anesthesia and/or Pediatric Pain Medicine; public contributions to improve perioperative care and/or pain management of children; and significant contribution to SPA and its membership.
William J. Greeley, MD, MBA, is Anesthesiologist-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and is the second recipient of this award. He served as the fifth president of SPA from 1995 to 1997. Dr. Greeley is highly recognized for his many contributions to the fields of pediatric and cardiac anesthesiology, and critical care medicine. His areas of expertise include brain protection strategies during cardiac surgery, and cardiac intensive care medicine.
“The presidency of the Society in 1995 marked the most important change in the Society’s direction.” - Myron Yaster, MD
Dr. Greeley received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX. He completed an internship, residency and cardiac fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. At CHOP, he did fellowship training in pediatric anesthesia and critical care medicine. In 2013, he received a M.S. degree in Bioinformatics. Dr. Greeley has been the author of numerous publications.
James M. Steven, MD, FAAP was the moderator for the presentation of the SPA Myron Yaster Lifetime Achievement Award on October 23rd at the 29th Annual Meeting of SPA in San Diego. This is a well deserved honor, and Dr. Greeley is to be congratulated as the latest recipient of this prestigious award.
“The Greeley Method includes:
- set the right objective,
- build the best team,
- complimentary team skills and
- the drive to finish.”
- James M. Steven, MD
