Mark A. Warner, M.D. was installed today as President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) during the organization’s Annual Meeting in San Diego. Dr. Warner is Dean of the Mayo School of Graduate Medical Education and a Professor of Anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minn.
"I am honored to accept this new position. I look forward to the advances the field of anesthesiology will experience during my term as president," remarked Dr. Warner. "I am especially interested in focusing ASA’s efforts on patient safety, particularly since this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation. That’s what the specialty of anesthesiology is all about – physicians committed to patient safety."
As a member of ASA since 1981, Dr. Warner has served in numerous leadership roles. Most recently, he served as ASA President-Elect (2010) and on the ASA Executive Committee. During the past decade Dr. Warner contributed to ASA efforts as a Director on its Board and Chair of three of its sections: Education & Research, Clinical Care, and the Annual Meeting. Dr. Warner has been a member of more than a dozen ASA committees and task forces and is past editor of Anesthesiology. He also served as President of the Minnesota Society of Anesthesiologists.
Involved in the medical community beyond ASA, Dr. Warner is a former President of the American Board of Anesthesiology. He currently is a Director for both the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation and the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research. He also was Chair of the Mayo Clinic Department of Anesthesiology and served on that institution’s Board of Governors.
Dr. Warner has dedicated his career toward improving patient health and safety through the advancement of anesthesia medical care. He has published numerous articles that focus on outcomes research, covering such topics as perioperative pulmonary aspiration, blindness and neuropathy.
After receiving his undergraduate education at Miami University in Ohio, Dr. Warner graduated from the Medical College of Ohio and completed his residency at Mayo Clinic.
Dr. Warner and his wife Mary Ellen, also a Mayo Clinic anesthesiologist and President of the Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology, live in Rochester and have four sons. Two sons are in the U.S. Air Force and two are Mayo medical students. Dr. Warner and his wife also have two daughter-in-laws: one is a civilian engineer with the Air Force and the other is a Mayo medical student.