After more than four decades with the Department of Surgery at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, Alex Ammar, M.D., has retired as chair of the department, and Brett Grizzell, M.D., FACS, assumed the role of chair March 3. The news was announced by Garold Minns, M.D., dean of KU School of Medicine-Wichita.

Ammar, whose retirement was effective Dec. 31, 2024, demonstrated his leadership at the onset of his hiring May 1, 1983, as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, and heightened it for the next 40 years. He was promoted to clinical professor in 1996 and named acting chair in 1997, and he was appointed as professor and chair in 1998.

In addition to leading his department, Ammar supports KU School of Medicine-Wichita by being a founding member of the 4-Wichita Board, serving as its chair from 2014 to 2017, and a member of the board of the Wichita Center for Graduate Medical Education.

In the community, Ammar joined Wichita Surgical Specialists in 1982 and became president and CEO in 1998. He is the co-founder and chair of the board of Specialty Independent Practice Association of Kansas and is a member of the Ascension Via Christi Health System Board for the state of Kansas. Ammar championed the efforts to name the Frederic C. Chang Clinic for Primary and Specialty Care at Ascension Via Christi in honor of Dr. Chang's contributions to graduate medical education.

"I have been proud to work with Alex and know his department is better because of his expertise, guidance and compassion," Minns said. "Please join me in wishing him well as he begins a new life chapter."

Grizzell is a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon who’s employed at Wichita Surgical Specialists. He has been a volunteer clinical associate professor since 2011 and is a student and resident alumnus of KU School of Medicine-Wichita.

"He will be a valuable asset to the department and our school," Minns said of Grizzell.