Dean Paul Cunningham was born on July 28, 1949, in Mandeville, Jamaica, the son of Winston P Cunningham and Sylvia F Marsh. He grew up in Jamaica, where his grandfather was a veterinarian.[1] He graduated from DeCarteret College High School [8] in 1966. He is married to Sydney Keniston and has two biological children (Rachel Cunningham Filler and Lucinda Cunningham Lathan) and two children by marriage (Shawn Thornton and Tifanie Thornton Kingston).[5][9][10]
Career
After medical graduation in Jamaica in 1972, Cunningham completed his residency in Surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1979, and also worked as a surgeon at Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital and City Hospital at Elmhurst, all in New York City. Moving his practice to NC in 1981, he became vice-chief of medical staff at Bertie Memorial Hospital, where he began teaching ECU medical students. Cunningham joined the ECU faculty full time in 1984, became medical director of trauma the following year, and chief medical staff at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in 1991. For six years (2002–2008) Cunningham became Professor & Chair at the Department of Surgery of SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York. He returned to Greenville NC in 2008 to become Dean of The Brody School of Medicine and Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs of East Carolina University, positions he presently holds.[5][11]
When announcing his appointment as a Dean, ECU Chancellor Steve Ballard is quoted to have said:[5] "Paul Cunningham is exactly the right choice to lead the Brody School of Medicine. He is a highly accomplished, widely respected physician. He is familiar with the school's mission and with the health care challenges facing this region and state, and he is a former chief of staff of our teaching hospital. Most importantly, Dr. Cunningham has the leadership skills and strength of character to assure excellence in the Brody school".
A list of Dean Cunningham´s appointments also includes:
Assistant Director, Department of Surgery, Joint Disease North General Hospital, New York, 1979–1981
Attending surgeon, Bertie County Memorial Hospital, Windsor, North Carolina, 1981–1984
Attending surgeon Pitt County Memorial Hospital, 1984–2002
Professor of Surgery, East Carolina University, 1993–2002
Chief of Staff, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, 1991–1992
Commissioned Major of the US Army, 1990 to 1998 (honorably discharged)
President of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma in 2000
Governor of the American College of Surgeons (current)
Service
Cunningham serves on a number of community organizations, occupying the positions such as:
Member of North Carolina Medical Care Commission.[12]
Member and past president of North Carolina Medical Review Board.[13]
Member and past President of the North Carolina Medical Society.[14]
Member of the Board of Directors at ECU Medical & Health Sciences Foundation.[15]
Dean Cunningham has held numerous professional representations and memberships at different levels in the US.[6] A list of current memberships includes:
American Medical Association, 1979
National Medical Association, 1983
Association for Academic Surgery, 1985
American College of Surgeons, 1986
American Council on Transplantation, 1986
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, 1986
Pan American Trauma Society, 1988
The Society of Critical Care Medicine, 1989
The Society of Phi Kappa Phi, 1989
Academy of Surgical Research, 1989
Association for Surgical Education, 1990
Research
Topics covered by Cunningham´s research articles[6] include:
