About Us
Executive Leadership
Board of Directors
Medical Oversight Board
Executive Leadership
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Dr. William P. Magee, Jr.
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William (Bill) P. Magee Jr., D.D.S., M.D., is a plastic and craniofacial surgeon who founded Operation Smile in 1982 with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, and serves as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer.
Dr. Magee has trained and mentored thousands of physicians worldwide. A featured guest on many network television programs, Dr. Magee is also a sought-after keynote speaker for corporate and national meetings. In July 2013, he gave one of the keynote addresses to the National Speakers Association (NSA) in Philadelphia, Pa.
Dr. Magee received a D.D.S. from the University of Maryland, M.D. from George Washington University Medical School, served his general surgery residency at the University of Virginia Medical School, and received the Fulbright-Hays Scholarship Grant to study in Paris, France with Dr. Paul Tessier in 1975. He then received his plastic surgery training at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va.
Dr. Magee has been awarded honorary doctorates from some of the finest universities worldwide, including the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden in 2014. He was awarded the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ Honorary Citation Award in 2014, the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons’ Tagliacozzi Award in 2013. Dr. Magee was highlighted in US News & World Report’s issue “America’s Top Leaders” in November 2009 and was given the National Medal for Peace and Friendship Among Nations in Vietnam in 2009. In 2007, UNICEF presented the Magees with a special recognition on behalf of Operation Smile and he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
He entered into the Plastic Surgery Practice in Norfolk, Va. in 1978 and became president of the group, which at the time was the largest private training program in the United States. In 2016, he stepped away from the practice to invest all of his effort and energy into Operation Smile.
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Kathleen S. Magee
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Kathleen (Kathy) S. Magee, B.S.N., M.Ed., M.S.W., a former nurse and clinical social worker, founded Operation Smile in 1982 with her husband, William P. Magee Jr., D.D.S., M.D. Kathy serves as the president of Operation Smile on a full-time, volunteer basis and is a lifetime member of the Board of Directors.
A dedicated advocate for children around the world, Kathy travels overseas extensively to nurture and maintain key corporate, diplomatic and medical partnerships that enable Operation Smile to carry out its surgical missions. She has been instrumental in establishing several Operation Smile international foundations, which handle all of the logistical aspects of the medical missions and has led a majority of the organization’s fact finding missions.
Kathy is deeply involved with Operation Smile's Student Programs, which provide the opportunity for students to learn about volunteerism and support Operation Smile's work by raising funds and awareness. Since the mid-1980s, Student Programs have grown to involve thousands of students in hundreds of student associations around the world.
Kathy's work on behalf of children around the world has led to the receipt of numerous awards and honors. She received the first $1 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 1996 for "… exemplary and significant contributions to ease human suffering" and the Servants of Peace Award from the UN representative to the Vatican in 1997. In 1999, the Magees received the Golden Plate Award, "representing the many who excel in the great fields of endeavor" by the American Academy of Achievement. In February 2004, Kathy was inducted into the Toledo-based Medical Mission Hall of Fame, in honor of making a difference in the health of her fellow human beings; and in 2004, the organization was awarded The Humanitarian Rose Award from The People’s Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc., London, England. In 2005, Kathy was awarded the Operation Smile Lifetime Volunteer Achievement Award, and in 2007, USAID presented the Magees with the President’s Call to Service Award from President George W. Bush.
Kathy is the recipient of honorary degrees from Fordham University, Mt. St. Mary's College, Loyola College, Old Dominion University, College Misericordia and Denison University and was inducted into the Alumni Association Hall of Fame at the University of Maryland in 2000. In 2014, she received a prestigious honorary doctorate from the Karolinska Instituet in Sweden. She has also remained active in the World of Children organization and serves as a member of the Executive Committee for the Hilton Laureates Collaborative.
A New Jersey native, Kathy received her B.S.N. from College Misericordia in Pennsylvania, her M.Ed. from the University of Maryland, Maryland, and her M.S.W. from Norfolk State University in Virginia. She also completed graduate work at the University of Virginia and the Jung Institute in Switzerland.
Board of Directors and Officers
Medical Oversight Board
Operation Smile’s Medical Oversight Board is comprised of its medical officers, medical specialty advisors, special program advisors, quality assurance and international medical directors who oversee our medical programs.
Operation Smile Medical Board members serve in an advisory capacity for the medical volunteers, partnering countries and in-country hospitals, as well as patients and their families. This international group of medical leaders are responsible for ensuring the organization upholds its strict Global Standards of Care to maintain safe surgeries and positive medical outcomes for all Operation Smile patients.
MEDICAL SPECIALTY ADVISORS
This group of advisors includes highly-skilled professionals from medical specialties involved in Operation Smile’s core programs such as plastic surgery, anesthesia, pediatrics, nursing, dentistry, speech, child life and biomed.
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Special Programs includes areas where Operation Smile has evolved its work, including disaster response, the World Care program, education, fellowships, research, metrics and evaluation, as well as partnerships and collaborations such as our work with the Department of Defense, the state of Assam in India and other professional societies.
OPERATION SMILE’S MEDICAL OFFICERS
Medical officers work with in-country medical leaders to guide medical quality and overall quality matters, equipment needs, site preparation, staffing and credentialing – ensuring all local regions are in compliance with Operation Smile’s Global Standards of Care.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
This team is responsible for continuously reviewing internal processes and evaluating safety and quality performance indicators. They make recommendations to update Operation Smile's Global Standards of Care based on best practice trends and evidence-based medicine.
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