Maurice (Josh) Jurkiewicz, M.D. (1923–2011) was born on September 24, 1923 in Claremont, New Hampshire. He died on May 29, 2011. He was the second of five children born to his Polish immigrant parents who passed through Ellis Island before World War I. The family moved to Bellow’s Falls, VT where they operated a family grocery store. After high school, Josh graduated magna cum laude with a D.D.S. from the University of Maryland in 1946. During a brief enlistment in the Navy, he became interested in surgery. After his discharge, he enrolled at Harvard Medical School completing his M.D. studies and stayed for residency training in general surgery.

He received his plastic surgery training at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis under Drs. Brown and Byars. After completing his surgical training in 1959, he was appointed chief of plastic surgery at the University of Florida. He did not take his plastic surgery board exam until 1963. Thus, formal plastic surgery resident training did not occur until 1965 at the University of Florida. In 1971, Dr. Jurkiewicz moved to Atlanta and became the chief of plastic surgery at Emory University. His surgical skills coupled with excellent faculty recruitment and training resulted in Emory’s residency training program becoming renowned  throughout the country. After years of national and international contributions to surgery, Dr. Jurkiewicz was selected as president of the American College of Surgeons in 1989. In 2001, the Jurkiewicz Society of Emory University honored him by providing funding for a biannual Jurkiewicz lecture to be presented on odd years during the annual SESPRS meeting. The first Jurkiewicz lecture was presented by Dr. Carl Hartrampf, Jr. on June 11, 2001 entitled “Plastic Surgery at Emory Before Jurkiewicz and Plastic Surgery at Emory, 1971–2001.”

Past Jurkiewicz Lecturers: 

2001 - Carl R. Hartrampf, MD

2003 - Leonard T. Furlow, MD 

2005 - Luis O. Vasconez, MD

2007 - T. Roderick Hester, MD

2009 - John McCraw, MD

2011 - John J. Coleman, III, MD

2013 - Jack Fisher, MD

2015 - Grant Carlson, MD

2017 - Joseph Williams, MD 

2019 - Phillip G. Arnold, MD 

2021 - David A. Staffenberg, MD 

2023 - Foad Nahai, MD 

2025 - Linda G. Phillips, MD