Department of
Surgery

Thomas H. Covey, Jr., MD, Visiting Professor Lectureship

The Dr. Thomas H. Covey, Jr., MD Lectureship is being established to honor and commemorate Dr. Thomas H. Covey’s lifetime of service to the West Virginia University School of Medicine and the residents of West Virginia.  The endowed lectureship fund will be used to support annual lectures to medical students and public by visiting scholars in the field of endocrinology and endocrine surgery.  The lectureship began in 2003.

Dr. Thomas H. Covey, a native of Beckley, West Virginia.  He attended Weston High School in Weston, West Virginia, received his undergraduate degree from West Virginia University in 1957, and his MD degree from Harvard Medical School in 1961.  Dr. Covey completed an internship in surgery and his surgical residency at the University of Michigan.  He then returned to WVU to perform a research fellowship in the Department of surgery in 1964-1965.  Dr. Covey joined the United State Army Medical Corps in 1967 and was honorably discharged in 1970 with the rank of Major and title of Chief of the Surgical Section, 279th Station Hospital, Berlin Germany. 

Dr. Covey was active as surgical faculty at Washington University School of Medicine until he was recruited back to WVU in 1984 and retired in 2004.  He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards and research grants.  Dr. Covey and his wife Hope continue to make Morgantown their home and have two children, Joda Lynn and Emily, and also three grandchildren.

At WVU Dr. Covey rose rapidly to the rank of Professor of Surgery, and just to name a few leadership roles he served as:

  • Interim Chair, Department of Surgery
  • Director, Surgical Residency Program
  • Resident Education Committee
  • Vice President, Graduate Education
  • Chairman, Promotion and Tenure Committee
  • Chairman, Advisory Committee on Promotion and Tenure
  • Cancer Liaison Physician for Ruby Memorial Hospital
  • Chair, Trauma Center Committee
  • Chair, Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center Performance Improvement Committee
  • Interim Director, Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center
  • Chair, Trauma Research Committee
  • Instructor, Gross Anatomy Lab
  • WVU SOM Admissions Committee
  • Executive Medical Board
  • Chief of Staff
  • Hospital Board
  • Ruby Memorial Board
  • Executive Committee
  • A.R.E. Facilitator
  • Chairman and Member, Cancer Review Committee
  • Chair, Credentials Committee
  • Medical Board Committee
  • OR Task Force
  • Chairman, Marketing Committee
  • West Virginia School of Medicine Admissions Committee
  • Adjunct Faculty Volunteer, Anatomy Lab, 1st Year Medical Students

The Dr. Thomas H. Covey, Jr., MD Lectureship will bring students and faculty together with exceptionally talented people in the field of endocrine surgery.  Lecturers will be nationally known scholars in the field selected by the Chair of the West Virginia University Department of Surgery, in conjunction with Dr. Covey and other selected committee members.  Funds will be spent on honoraria and travel expenses for the lecturers.

This lectureship will assist the School of Medicine to enhance and strengthen the Department of Surgery for generations.  Through teaching, research, and public service, the West Virginia University School of Medicine Department of Surgery is committed to remaining a vital surgical education resource for the state, the region, and the nation.

Past Visiting Professors

  • 2024 Peter F. Ehrlich, MD, MSc
    Professor, Department of Surgery, Section of Pediatric Surgery
    C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
    Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
    "Wilms Tumor – The Eras Tour A Focus on Surgery and
    Cancer Predisposition"
  • 2022 Samuel A. Wells, Jr., MD
    Professor Emeritus, Department of Surgery
    Washington University School of Medicine
    “Landmarks in Organ Transplantation: The Contributions of Thomas E. Starzl”
  • 2019  Taylor Riall, MD, PhD, FACS
    Professor, Department of Surgery
    Chief, Division of General Surgery and Surgical Oncology
    College of Medicine, Tucson University of Arizona
    Leader, Clinical Discipline / Surgical Oncology-Arizona Cancer Center
  • 2018  Linwah Yip, MD
    University of Pittsburgh
    Watch the video:  Precision Surgery for Indeterminate Thyroid Nodules and Cancer
  • 2017  John I. Lew, MD, FACS
    University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine
    Surgical Treatment of Primary Hyperparathyroidism:  Evolution from Form to Function
  • 2016  Herbert Chen, MD
    University of Alabama--Birmingham
    Top Ten Strategies for Success in Academic Surgery
  • 2015  E. Christopher Ellison, MD
    Ohio State University College of Medicine
    Mentoring Matters: Establishing a Mentoring Program
  • 2014  John B. Hanks, MD
    University of Virginia
    A surgical approach to thyroid cancer
  • 2011  Patrica L. Numann, MD
    SUNY Upstate Medical University
    Developing an academic career in surgical education
  • 2010  Sally E. Carty, MD
    University of Pittsburgh
    Thyroidectomy: Indications, controversies: Use of molecular markers for differentiated thyroid cancer
  • 2009  Goran B. Klintmalm, MD, PhD
    Baylor University—Dallas
    To transplant or not to transplant; When is enough, enough?
  • 2008  Quan-Yang Duh, MD
    University California, San Francisco
    Surgical management of adrenal tumors: What’s new?
  • 2007  L. Michael Brunt, MD
    Washington University
    Current concepts in the diagnosis and management of adrenal tumors
  • 2006  Barbara L. Smith MD, PhD
    Harvard University    
    Reducing the extent of surgery and radiation for breast cancer: How precise can we get?
  • 2005  Charles J. Yeo, MD
    Johns Hopkins Hospital
    Surgery for pancreatic endocrine tumors
  • 2004  Christopher R. McHenry, MD
    MetroHealth Medical Center
    Insulinoma and gastrinoma: Case presentations and review of diagnosis and management
  • 2003  Robert Udelsman, MD
    Yale University
    Minimally invasive parathyroidectomy