Dr. Andre Campbell

Surgeon and professor Dr. Andre R. Campbell was born on May 5, 1958 in Queens, New York, to Ether Walker and Ronald Ivan Campbell. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1976, he attended Harvard University, where he obtained his A.B. degree in biology in 1980. In 1985, he earned his M.D. degree from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

In 1986, Campbell began his internal medicine residency at Columbian Presbyterian Medical Center, now named the NewYork-Presbyterian, Columbia University Medical Center. After completing his medical residency over a three-year period, he changed his specialization to general surgery. Campbell became the chief resident of general surgery in 1991, completed his residency in 1992, and then served as a surgical critical care fellow at NewYork-Presbyterian. In 1993, Campbell returned to his alma mater, the University of California, San Francisco, as a clinical instructor in the department of surgery. In 1994, he became an assistant professor of surgery before being promoted to associate professor in 2000. Six years later, he was promoted to professor of surgery. His clinical interests are surgical education, post-trauma lung injuries, ICU care of trauma patients, and abdominal compartment syndrome. During his career at UCSF, he served as the endowed chair of surgical education from 2003 to 2014. He also directed the third-year medical student undergraduate education program at UCSF hospitals and led the surgical critical care fellowship for over twenty years. In 2019, he was appointed the inaugural vice chair for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the department of surgery. Campbell has also served as an adjunct professor of surgery at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

In addition to his academic appointments, Campbell was an attending trauma surgeon at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center beginning in 1993. He was also appointed medical director of San Francisco General Hospital’s ICU. From 2009 to 2013, Campbell served as an attending surgeon in the ICU of the San Francisco Veterans Administration Hospital.

Campbell held memberships in various surgical associations and societies. A founding board member of the Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators in 2001, Campbell was elected Secretary of the Board of Governors Executive Committee of the American College of Surgeons in 2018. He also served on the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma for fifteen years, as well as on both the Central Committee and the Verification Review Committee for six years. In 2023, he became the president of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. Campbell has also served as president of the Northern California Chapter of the American College of Surgeons; president of the UCSF Gold Headed Cane Society; president of the John Jones Surgical Society; honorary fellow in the Brazilian College of Surgeons; member of the American College of Surgeons Academy of Master Surgical Educators; and chair of the surgical section of the National Medical Association.

Campbell received numerous awards for his work in education and at hospitals, including the “Outstanding Teacher Award” from the Association for Surgical Education in 2003, the “Martin Luther King Jr. Award” from UCSF in 2010, and a “Certificate of Honor” from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 2011. November 2, 2023, was named “Dr. Andre Campbell Day” in San Francisco. In 2024, he was awarded the “Heart and Heroes Award” from San Francisco General Hospital, and in 2025, he received the Association for Surgical Education “Distinguished Master Surgical Educator Award.”

Campbell is married to Gillian Otway. He has one adult son and resides in San Francisco, California.

Dr. Andre R. Campbell was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 9, 2024.