Reid Adams, MD, Honored with New Portrait

The University of Virginia Department of Surgery honored former chair Reid Adams, MD ’87, with a portrait unveiling on October 28, 2026, celebrating his decades of service as a surgeon, educator, and leader at UVA. Adams now serves as chief medical officer of UVA Health.

The ceremony continued a nearly 100-year department tradition of honoring its chairs through portraiture. Current faculty and longtime colleagues gathered at the unveiling to recognize Adams, including Department of Surgery Chair Allan Tsung, MD, and School of Medicine Interim Dean Colin P. Derdeyn, MD. The portrait will be displayed in the department’s conference room.

Adams’ connection to UVA began in 1979, when he arrived as an undergraduate student. While pursuing his degree, he worked for three years as an orderly in the Emergency Department. He went on to complete medical school and his surgical residency at UVA before undertaking a one-year fellowship in Toronto. He returned to join the UVA faculty in 1995.

Adams established himself as a talented surgeon specializing in the treatment of liver, pancreatic, and biliary cancers and diseases. At UVA Health, he established a pancreatic cancer program that screens high-risk patients and offers novel treatments for those diagnosed with the disease. His leadership roles have included chief of hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, physician service line leader for oncology, and chair of the Department of Surgery. In April 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, he became interim chief medical officer of the Medical Center while continuing to serve as department chair. He stepped down as chair in 2022 and continued as chief medical officer. As UVA Health’s senior physician, he oversees medical staff and works to ensure high-quality patient care.

Adams has also held prominent national leadership positions, serving as president of the Society of Clinical Surgery and the Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, as well as chair of the American Board of Surgery and the Complex General Surgical Oncology Board. He has also served on numerous editorial boards.

At the unveiling, Adams spoke about the time and care artist Jonathan Linton devoted to understanding him as a person, seeking to capture both his likeness and the individual behind it. He said the portrait represents more than an individual career. It honors the people with whom he has worked and the department they have helped build.

“That is what this portrait represents to me,” he said. “Not the recognition of an individual, but the honor of a lifetime spent serving alongside extraordinary people whose dedication have made this department what it is.”

Tsung said it was a privilege to celebrate Adams. “Few people are as woven into the history of UVA as Reid. From his days as a student and surgical trainee at University of Virginia School of Medicine to his leadership as chair of surgery and chief medical officer at UVA Health, he has helped shape our department and institution in countless ways,” he said. “What makes this celebration especially meaningful is that Reid’s story at UVA is far from over. He remains passionate about surgery, mentoring the next generation, and continuing to build our programs.”