MACON –Martin L. Dalton Jr., M.D., FACS, announced today that he will retire as dean of the Mercer University School of Medicine, effective June 30, 2008, completing a distinguished 18-year career at the University.
Dalton joined the Mercer School of Medicine faculty in 1990 as Chair of the Surgery Department and director of the surgery residency at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. He was appointed dean of the School of Medicine in September 2005.
“The School of Medicine has made exceptional progress under Martin Dalton’s leadership,” said Mercer President William D. Underwood. “Over the last two years he successfully guided the school through re-affirmation of its accreditation, presided over the establishment of a second, four-year campus in Savannah, and has attracted a number of outstanding faculty and staff to the institution. He has accomplished all of this while remaining committed to the school’s special mission of preparing physicians for rural and underserved areas of Georgia. I am grateful for his commitment to the University, the School of Medicine, the medical community, and the people of Georgia.”
In recognition of his long and distinguished service, Dalton will be named Dean Emeritus and Professor of Surgery Emeritus upon his retirement.
“Martin Dalton is not only a distinguished surgeon, but he has also provided strong academic leadership to the School of Medicine and extraordinary service to the faculty for almost two decades,” said Provost Horace W. Fleming Jr. “I have enjoyed working with Martin over the last several years. His extraordinary commitment to the School of Medicine has been an inspiration to students, faculty and staff, and we appreciate his many contributions to Mercer.”
“I am indebted to Mercer University for providing me with the opportunity to direct the Department of Surgery and eventually to serve as the Dean of the School of Medicine,” Dalton said. “I have greatly enjoyed my tenure at Mercer University. I leave with a happy heart full of confidence in the successful future that lies in store for the School of Medicine.”
Born in Columbus, Ga., Dalton grew up in Eufaula, Ala., where he was educated in the city school system. He received his undergraduate degree from Auburn University in 1953 and his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham in 1957. After a rotating internship at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, his surgical residency was accomplished at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, as was his residency in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. Upon completion of his residency training, he entered the U.S. Army and for two years was chief of the thoracic section of the Department of Surgery of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C.
Following military service, he accepted an appointment as assistant professor in the Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. In 1966, he began the private practice of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in Lubbock, Texas. From 1973 to 1983, he was clinical professor and chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at the Texas Tech University School of Medicine.
In 1983, Dalton returned to the University of Mississippi as professor of surgery under James D. Hardy and served in that capacity until 1990 when he became professor of surgery at the Mercer University School of Medicine.
About Mercer University:
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University has 7,200 students; 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies; major campuses in Macon and Atlanta; four regional academic centers across the state; a university press; two teaching hospitals — Memorial Health University Medical Center and the Medical Center of Central Georgia; educational partnerships with Warner
Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta; an engineering research center in Warner Robins; a performing arts center in Macon; and a NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
