ORLANDO, Fla. — During the opening session of its 2016 Interim Meeting, the American Medical Association presented Stephen C. Duffy, former executive vice president and CEO of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS), with the Medical Executive Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors a medical association executive who has contributed substantially to the goals and ideals of the medical profession.

“With three decades of work in the field of medicine – including an early stop at the AMA — Stephen Duffy has dedicated his career to patient advocacy and his spare time to children in need. It is our privilege to recognize an esteemed medical professional who has advocated tirelessly for the profession before Congress, state legislatures, and regulators,” said AMA President Andrew W. Gurman, M.D.

Following a decade of work in public service, Duffy began his medical association career at the AMA in 1987. There, he served as assistant director of the department of congressional affairs and then as director of the division of political action, where he oversaw the AMA’s Political Action Committee (AMPAC). He then embarked on a senior leadership role at the AAFPRS, a post he held from 1992 until his recent retirement from the academy this past August, where he focused many of his efforts on education, patient advocacy, protection initiatives, and collaborative legislative and regulatory activities.

Under Duffy’s guidance, the AAFPRS launched its journal, JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery. He also administered the organization’s pro bono FACE TO FACE program where facial plastic surgeons assist those who suffer from facial deformities caused by birth or trauma.

A graduate of the College of Holy Cross, Duffy volunteers at the National Institutes of Health and Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC.