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2011 Leadership

GHS 2011 Board of Trustees

The Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) Board of Trustees is a volunteer board. It is made up of 12 members representing Greenville County, as well as two seats that are outside of the county.
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Chair
Jerry E. Dempsey

Vice Chair 
R. Dennis Hennett

Secretary 
Benjamin L. Allen, Jr., M.D.

Members 
Harry A. Chapman, Jr.
Frances DeLoache Ellison 
S. Hunter Howard, Jr. 
Margaret L. Jenkins
Rita M. McKinney 
James C. Morton, Jr. 
Thomas E. Simmons
Benjamin B. Waters, III
William M. Webster, IV


Benjamin L. Allen, Jr., M.D., is the Secretary of the GHS Board of Trustees. He is the former chief of staff at the Greenville Shriners Hospitals for Children. He earned his BS degree at Wofford College, graduating Summa Cum Laude. He earned his Doctor of Medicine at Duke University and completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at Duke Hospital and affiliated institutions. He is a former board member of Greenville’s Ronald McDonald House and former member of the state medical advisory committee for children’s rehabilitative services. He previously served as faculty at Duke University School of Medicine and the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Widely published, he currently holds positions as professor of orthopaedic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina; adjunct professor of bioengineering at Clemson University; and clinical professor of orthopaedic surgery at the University of South Carolina School Of Medicine.


Harry A. Chapman, Jr., a native South Carolinian, has been a practicing attorney at law in Greenville since 1960 and currently practices with Chapman, Harter & Groves, P.A. He earned a BA degree and a law degree from the University of South Carolina.

Mr. Chapman has served in both the S.C. House of Representatives and the S.C. State Senate. In the Senate, he chaired the Medical Affairs Committee and the Education Committee. He was named Legislator of the Year by the Greenville News-Greenville Piedmont for 1984. In 1987, Mr. Chapman was awarded the Order of the Palmetto. He has formerly served as a member or officer of the board of a number of leading South Carolina universities, institutions and agencies, including as president of the Greenville County Bar Association. He is currently a member of the American Bar Association and the S.C. Bar Association. He currently serves as a member of the University Center of Greenville Board of Advisors.


Jerry E. Dempsey is the current Chair of the GHS Board of Trustees. He is the retired board chairman and CEO of PPG Industries Inc., a Fortune 500 company. He also served as Vice Chairman of WMX Technologies (now Waste Management Inc.) and chairman and CEO of its Chemical Waste Management subsidiary. A Landrum native, he is a mechanical engineering graduate of Clemson University. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Georgia State University and attended the executive seminar of Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies.

He has served on the board of directors of numerous publicly traded companies, including Eastman Chemical, Nalco Chemical, Borg-Warner Corporation, Waste Management, Birmingham Steel and Navistar International. He has been active in civic affairs throughout his career. He has received numerous honors from Clemson University for his distinguished service and co-chaired the Commission on the Future of Clemson University and its corporate committee in Clemson’s capital campaign. In 1995, he received a Horatio Alger Award from the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans and the Anti-Defamation League American Heritage Award. He twice received Financial World Magazine’s service business CEO of the Year bronze award.

In Greenville, he has been a member of the Peace Center for the Performing Arts Board, an elder in First Presbyterian Church, treasurer of the Presbyterian Community Foundation, a board member of Greenville Country Club and President of the Greenville Symphony.


Frances DeLoache Ellison is the immediate past Chair of the GHS Board of Trustees. A lifelong resident of Greenville, she earned a BA degree from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina. She was a practicing attorney with the firm of Haynsworth, Sinkler & Boyd from 1978-1990 where her primary field of practice was health care.

Ms. Ellison has held numerous leadership roles on the boards of leading area corporations, organizations and institutes of learning. She currently serves as co-chair of Greenville Women Giving, a special initiative of the Community Foundation of Greenville, and as a trustee of the Joe C. Davis Foundation. She has served as an elder of Fourth Presbyterian Church, and she currently serves the church as an endowment trustee.


R. Dennis Hennett is the Vice Chair of the GHS Board of Trustees. He is the retired CEO of Greer State Bank and has 38 years of banking experience. He attended the American Bankers Association’s Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University, where he received his graduate degree in banking. He earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts degrees from Furman University. He is a native of Woodruff.

He’s long been active in the community and has garnered numerous awards. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Greer Bancshares Inc., the parent company of Greer State Bank, the Greer Development Corporation’s board of directors and the BMW Community Advisory Panel.


S. Hunter Howard, Jr., is a former S.C. legislator and retired president and CEO of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce. Under his leadership, the organization received recognition by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2006 as the first state chamber to be Accredited with Distinction. He is currently a partner in the CPA firm Scott & Company, LLP. A native of Fountain Inn, he earned a BS in accounting from the University of South Carolina and later completed Harvard University’s Program in Senior Executives in State and Local Government.

He managed his own CPA firm, Hunter Howard & Company, for approximately eight years, during which time period he was also elected to the state’s House of Representatives as the state’s youngest legislator at that time. He has received numerous awards, including the Order of the Palmetto. He has served as a member of the S.C. Board of Economic Advisors, the Charleston Southern University Board of Trustees, the S.C. Retirement System Investment Panel and United Way of South Carolina. He currently serves on boards such as the Greenville Hospital System, Greenville Technical College Foundation, South Carolina Higher Education Foundation and the Clemson University ICAR Economic Council.


Margaret L. Jenkins, of Greenville, is founder and president of Margaret Jenkins & Associates, a Greenville-based consulting firm specializing in strategic marketing and philanthropic development. A native of Los Angeles, she earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Colorado.

Ms. Jenkins has an extensive background in consumer marketing and advertising and was previously senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Spartanburg-based Denny’s Corp. She is also the former chief marketing officer of El Pollo Loco Restaurants, a 500-unit Southern California-based company. In addition, she has held various senior management positions with Taco Bell Corp. and PepsiCo International Foodservice and has extensive experience in advertising agency management. She is a director of Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., a New York-based international apparel and retail company. Ms. Jenkins is an avid supporter of the visual and performing arts and is a trustee of the Greenville Symphony Association and Artisphere. She also serves on the board of Greenville Women Giving.


Rita M. McKinney currently practices with McNair Law Firm, where she directs the firm’s Upstate employment and labor practice and was listed as one of the Best Lawyers of America (2007, 2008). She has also served as director of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. She earned a BA in journalism from the University of South Carolina and a Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law.

She as served as president of the Greenville County Bar Association, on the S.C. Bar’s ethics advisory and judicial qualifications committees and was elected president of the National Association of Government Labor Officials. She also served as president of the USC Alumni Association and on the USC Board of Trustees and the Columbia College Board of Visitors, with civic participation including Greenville Urban League, United Way of Greenville, Warehouse Theatre and participation in Leadership Greenville and Leadership South Carolina. 
 


James C. Morton, Jr., is a retired vice chairman of Nissan North America, with 30 years experience working for international companies in senior management positions. He is presently under contract with various companies in an advisory role for government relations and community affairs. As president of the Nissan Foundation for six years, he was responsible for a 100 percent increase in its corpus. He received a law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law and a BA degree from Westminster College. He also served in the U.S. Army, where he awarded a Bronze Star during his service in South Vietnam, and in the Missouri Army National Guard.

As vice president of Nissan, he focused on Nissan’s federal, state and local government and community affairs activities. He was particularly focused on Nissan’s diversity efforts, both internally and in communities where Nissan had a significant presence. He served on the National Urban League for three years. He has served on boards or leadership positions with groups such as S.C. Chamber of Commerce, California Chamber of Commerce, National Urban League, Greenville Tech Foundation Inc., S.C. Ports Authority and the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.


Rev. Thomas E. Simmons is pastor of Reedy Fork Baptist Church of Simpsonville, where membership has  increased 75 percent under his leadership. He graduated from the Interdenominational Theological Center at Morehouse School of Religion in Atlanta, Ga., and earned a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State University.

Prior to going into the ministry, he worked at W.R. Grace & Co., Cryovac Division, Simpsonville. He has served as moderator of the Reedy River Baptist Union of Churches and as chairman of the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau. He has also served as a board member of the Urban League of the Upstate and the National Baptist Convention USA Inc. 

Benjamin B. Waters, III, is the retired president of Cunningham-Waters Construction Co., Inc. in Greer, which he helped grow from a $500,000 company to a $10 million company. Mr. Waters earned a BA from The Citadel and an AS in civil engineering technology in Greenville Technical College. Waters also served as an officer in the U.S. Army for nearly a decade.

Civic experience includes serving as a board member and president of the Greer Lions Club, director of the Greer Chamber of Commerce, and director and chairman of the board of the Citizens Building and Loan Association, 120 million dollar Federally Chartered Thrift. He is a member and committee chair of the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board. He has also served on boards affiliated with Greenville Technical College and North Greenville University, as well as serving on the Governor’s Education Taskforce for Excellence in Public Education. He has received numerous awards and honors, including being inducted into the Citadel’s Arland D. Williams Society in recognition of his outstanding humanitarian service to the community. He is a past deacon chair and Sunday School teacher at the First Baptist Church of Greer. 
 


William M. Webster, IV, of Spartanburg, is the co-founder and Chairman of the Board for Advance America, Cash Advance Centers, Inc., and has previously served in the White House. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School Of Law in 1983 and a Bachelor of Arts in English and German from Washington & Lee University in 1979, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He attended Germany’s University of Regensburg on a Fulbright Scholarship.

Mr. Webster served multiple roles in the White House, including as assistant to the president and director of scheduling and advance, where he was responsible for the coordination and planning of all presidential events with management responsibility for a staff of 25 full-time and 300 part-time employees. He also served as chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley and chief of staff for the presidential transition where he was responsible for coordination and administration of sub-Cabinet appointments in the Clinton Administration. Previously, he was president of Greenville-based Carabo Inc., which at that time operated 27 Bojangles Chicken ‘n Biscuit restaurants in S.C. His community activities include service as chairman of the Board of Trustees for Converse College and on the Washington and Lee University Board of Trustees, the MD Anderson Medical Center Board of Visitors, the Spartanburg Day School Board of Trustees and Liberty Fellows Board of Directors.

GHS Executive Team

President and Chief Executive Officer Michael C. Riordan

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Gregory J. Rusnak

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Terri T. Newsom

Vice President of Strategic Services
Malcolm W. Isley

Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel
Joseph J. Blake, Jr.

Vice President of Institutional Advancement
George F. Maynard, III

Chief of Staff
Tod N. Tappert

Vice President of Medical Services and Dean of Academic Services
Jerry R. Youkey, M.D.

Vice President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer
Doran A. Dunaway

Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resource Officer
D. Douglas Dorman

Vice President of Community and Governmental Affairs
H. Howell Clyborne, Jr.

Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety
Thomas W. Diller, M.D., M.M.M.

Vice President of Academic Development
Brenda J. Thames, Ed.D.

Medical Director, University Medical Group
William P. Marshall, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer
Angelo Sinopoli, M.D.

Chief Academic Officer 
Spence M. Taylor, M.D.

Chief Nursing Officer
Michelle Taylor Smith



Joseph J. Blake, Jr., Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2007. Blake provides legal support primarily related to the hospital system’s business operations, transactions with other providers and the GHS Board of Trustees. He also oversees the legal work provided to GHS by outside law firms.

Prior to joining GHS, Blake served as shareholder and managing partner of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A., a law firm in Greenville, South Carolina, specializing in corporate and healthcare law. While there, he served as lead corporate attorney for GHS for more than 15 years and was listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for more than a decade.

Blake is a member of the South Carolina Bar and the American Lawyer’s Association. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, and a Juris Doctor degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.



H. Howell Clyborne, Jr., Vice President of Community and Governmental Affairs, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 1998. Clyborne is responsible for the hospital system’s marketing, public relations, physician relations and governmental affairs. Prior to joining GHS, he served as deputy chief of staff of the Office of the Governor of South Carolina and as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives.

Clyborne is a member of the South Carolina Economic Board of Advisors and was awarded the Order of the Palmetto by the Governor of South Carolina in 1994 and 1997. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of South Carolina.



Thomas W. Diller, M.D., M.M.M., Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2008. Dr. Diller is responsible for ensuring optimal organizational clinical performance. He also leads several departments, including quality management/patient safety/risk management, infection prevention and control, management engineering (performance improvement) and medical staff affairs.

Dr. Diller also heads up the Program for Quality and Patient Safety to perform research into finding ways to improve quality and patient safety. He serves on several state-wide quality committees and is Adjunct Faculty in the Industrial Engineering Department at Clemson University.

Prior to joining GHS, Dr. Diller served as chief medical officer for Blessing Hospital in Quincy, Illinois. He also served as chief medical officer for a large physician group practice and a provider-owned managed care company as well as medical director of an emergency department.

Dr. Diller is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a member of several professional societies, including the American College of Physician Executives, American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Diller earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Illinois Wesleyan University. He earned his medical degree and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He is also a Certified Physician Executive and has a master’s degree in medical management from the H. John Heinz, III, School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University.



D. Douglas Dorman, Vice President of Human Resources and Chief Human Resource Officer, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 1995. Dorman is responsible for the hospital system’s employment, employee relations, compensation, benefits, employee education, diversity, child care services, employee health and language services. Prior to joining GHS, he served as vice president of human resources for Horizon Hospital System in western Pennsylvania.

Dorman is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and certified as a Senior Professional in Human Resources. He earned a bachelor’s degree in religion from Middlebury College in Vermont and a master’s degree in business administration from the University System of New Hampshire.



Doran A. Dunaway, Vice President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 1998. Dunaway is responsible for strategic development and management of information, information resources and technology which support the hospital system’s mission and goals. He also leads various corporate functions, including a referral center, bed management, ambulance services and call center.

Dunaway has 26 years of experience in the planning, management and control of information technology and business processes. Prior to joining GHS, he served as an information services consultant and oversaw the management of a large information technology organization for one of the largest medical group practices in the country.
Dunaway is an active member in the Health Information Services Executive Association. He earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in engineering with a specialization in computer science from the University of Louisville.



Malcolm W. Isley, Vice President of Strategic Services, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2007. Isley is responsible for strategic planning and strategy development, business and network development, marketing, communications and affiliations. Prior to joining GHS, he served as associate vice president of business and network development at Duke University Health System.

Isley serves on the YMCA Metro Board and the Greenville Tech Foundation Board. He earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from North Carolina State University and a master’s degree in health administration from Duke University. 
 



William P. Marshall, M.D., Medical Director of the GHS University Medical Group and Chairman of the Department of Community and Family Medicine, has been on the GHS Medical Staff since 1971 and joined the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 1994. Dr. Marshall is responsible for the administrative support of the employed physicians including the community practices of GHS.

Dr. Marshall is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Science – Medicine from Tennessee Technological University and a medical degree from the University Of Tennessee College of Medicine in Memphis, Tennessee. He served a family medicine residency at GHS from 1971 through 1973 and practiced family medicine at Riverside Family Practice from 1974 through 2006.



George F. Maynard, III, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2003. Maynard is responsible for generating philanthropic revenue in support of the hospital system’s strategic plan and providing administrative leadership to the Office of Research Support and Administration and Safe Kids Upstate. Prior to joining GHS, Maynard served as a philanthropy consultant to several non-profit organizations and as president of the Orlando Regional Healthcare Foundation in Florida.

Maynard is a Fellow in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP), and in 2007, received the Harold J. “Si” Seymour award for distinguished service to AHP and the field of philanthropy. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Mississippi and a master’s degree in social work administration from the University of Tennessee.



Terri T. Newsom, Vice President of Financial Services and Chief Financial Officer, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in March 2011. Newsom is responsible for all financial functions of the hospital system and its affiliates, including accounting, treasury, budgeting, revenue cycle, corporate integrity and material services. Prior to joining GHS, she was the associate vice president for ambulatory care finance at Duke University Health System and the divisional Chief Financial Officer of Duke Raleigh Hospital.

Newsom has been involved in health care since 1991 when she joined Duke University Hospital as a senior budget and financial analysis analyst. While at Duke, she served on the boards of community and civic organizations and was also a member of the North Carolina Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Appalachian State University and is a certified public accountant.



Michael C. Riordan, President and Chief Executive Officer, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2006. Riordan is responsible for leading the 1,268-bed system, one of the largest not-for-profit healthcare providers in the Southeast with more than 10,000 employees and operating revenues of approximately $1.4 billion. In 2011, GHS provided more than $283 million in quantifiable benefits to its surrounding communities.

Prior to joining GHS, he served as president, chief executive officer and trustee of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System and as chief operating officer, and later, senior associate hospital administrator of Emory University Hospital and Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. He also served three years in the United States Marine Corps as a lieutenant.

Riordan currently serves as an assembly representative for the Association of American Medical Colleges and on the administrative board of the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems. He is a member of several boards, including the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Health Sciences South Carolina and the Urban League of the Upstate, Inc.

Riordan earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts/English and a master’s degree in education/psychology from Columbia University in New York, as well as a master’s degree in health systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology.



Gregory J. Rusnak, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 1996. Rusnak is responsible for the operation of the hospital system’s five medical campuses, which include a 746-bed academic medical center, three satellite acute care hospitals, a long-term acute care hospital, psychiatric hospital and comprehensive rehabilitation hospital. He is also responsible for a 650-member multi-specialty physician practice and several corporate support departments, including human resources, campus and facility development, information technology and nursing.

Prior to joining GHS, Rusnak held senior level positions with Sutter Health in Northern California and served as a hospital administrator at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

Rusnak is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the South Carolina Hospital Association. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in health services administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 
 



Angelo Sinopoli, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Chairman of the Department of Medicine, Senior Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs, and Medical Director of the Office of Total Health, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) first as a resident in 1982. After completing his residency here in 1985 he returned in 1987 as a member of the Pulmonary Critical Care faculty.
As chair of the Internal Medicine Department, Dr. Sinopoli oversees approximately one hundred physicians in various practices, including Internal Medicine faculty and specialists system-wide, 40 hospitalists and the Internal Medicine residency program.

Dr. Sinopoli is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine and Critical Care Medicine. He is a member of several professional societies, has authored numerous abstracts and journal articles, and presented at multiple conferences. He holds a professorship position at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. He has earned several teaching awards from the Medical School.

Dr. Sinopoli earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of South Carolina and a medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. Following his internship at GHS, he completed a fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.



Michelle Taylor Smith, RN, MSN, NE-BC, FACHE, Chief Nursing Officer, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2011. Smith is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership, while assuring a high level of quality patient and family care throughout the hospital system. Prior to joining GHS, Smith served as senior vice president of patient care services and chief nurse executive at TriHealth, Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Smith is a member of a number of organizations, including the American Organization of Nurse Executives, American College of Healthcare Executives and Health Advisory Board. She has also served on the executive committee of the United Way and Lymphoma Society, the board of the YWCA, and the advisory board of Good Samaritan and Xavier University.

Smith earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Toledo and master’s degree in nursing from the Medical College of Ohio. She was named a Fellow in the American Academy of Health Executives in 2011.



Tod N. Tappert, Chief of Staff, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2007. As senior staff to the president and CEO, Tappert’s duties include overseeing and developing major communications for key audiences, such as the Board of Trustees, physicians, leadership and staff; facilitating and monitoring organizational and senior management goals and development; and representing the CEO on a variety of system task forces focused on advancing GHS strategic goals. He is one of two executive sponsors of the organization’s Leadership Development efforts related to GHS Commitment to Excellence.

He also worked with GHS President and CEO Michael Riordan prior to joining GHS, serving as special assistant to him while Riordan was president and CEO of University of Chicago Hospitals and Health System. Tappert has more than 20 years of experience in health administration and planning/public policy, including executive and leadership positions at the Greater Illinois Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care and the American Hospital Association-affiliated Society for Ambulatory Care Professionals. He also served as a strategic planner and senior health policy analyst at the American Medical Association. Early in his career, as part of the Presidential Management Program, he worked in health policy and budgeting roles with the federal government.

Tappert is a member of the Metropolitan Arts Council of Greenville board of directors. He earned a bachelors degree in political science and religious studies from the University of Michigan. In addition, he holds a master’s degree in public health administration from the School of Public Health and a master’s of public policy and planning from the Humphrey Institute of Public Policy, both at the University of Minnesota.



Spence M. Taylor, M.D., Chairman Department of Surgery and Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs joined the Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 1992. He was named Chairman and Program Director in 1998. Over the past decade the Department of Surgery has experienced unprecedented growth under his leadership, the academic programs have flourished with the expansion of the general surgery residency, the addition of the state's only vascular surgery residency, and development of a minimal access surgery fellowship and vascular medicine fellowship.

Dr. Taylor is certified by the American Board of Surgery in general surgery, general vascular surgery, and is a registered vascular technologist. He is a member of most major surgical organizations and has held offices in several. He has authored numerous book chapters, abstracts and journal articles. In addition, he holds the academic appointment of professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

Dr. Taylor earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Clemson University and a medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. He did his internship and general surgery residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and a residency in peripheral vascular surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. 
 



Brenda J. Thames, Ed.D., Vice President of Academic Development, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 2007. Dr. Thames is responsible for providing academic strategic direction and leadership for initiatives designed to advance patient care through education and research. She also works with local colleges and universities to develop collaborative relationships that are focused on healthcare.

Prior to joining GHS, Dr. Thames served as associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Health, Education and Human Development at Clemson University.

Dr. Thames is a member of the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics from Mississippi State University as well as a master’s degree in guidance and counseling and a doctorate in vocational and technical education from Clemson University.



Jerry R. Youkey, M.D., Vice President of Medical Services and Dean of Academic Services, joined Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center (GHS) in 1998. Dr. Youkey is responsible for the hospital system’s research and education activities as well as strategic and operational physician initiatives. He also serves as chief medical officer of GHS’ University Medical Group, which is made up of 400 employed physicians.

Prior to joining GHS, Dr. Youkey served as chief of the department of surgery and director of the peripheral vascular fellowship program at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania. He also served in the United States Army Medical Corps and was honorably discharged in 1984 with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Dr. Youkey is certified by the American Board of Surgery in general surgery and general vascular surgery. He is a member of several professional societies and has authored numerous books, abstracts and journal articles. In addition, he holds the academic appointment of professor and associate dean at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and the Medical University of South Carolina.

Dr. Youkey earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Stanford University and a medical degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served a rotating internship and general surgery residency at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, and a fellowship in peripheral vascular surgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.