David M. Gourlay, MD, FACS, FAAP

Scott R. Steele, MD, FACS, FASCRS

David Michael Gourlay is an Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. David is originally from San Francisco, CA. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of California Santa Barbara and medical school training at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He then went on to perform his General Surgery Residency training at the University of Washington in Seattle, where I first met him and worked with him on my burn and trauma rotations. Following this, David completed his Pediatric Surgery Residency at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI, remaining there and marching up the ranks to his present Division Chief role.

David is also a Colonel in the United States Army Reserves, serving as a General Surgeon and deploying to combat in Kosovo, Iraq, and three times to Afghanistan—earning several awards and decorations for his service and patient care. Despite his busy schedule, David remains an active clinician and academic surgeon, teaching residents and fellows on a daily basis. He is an extraordinary researcher and is funded by the National Institutes of Health, studying the use of mechanism of injury for the identification of severely injured children, among several other projects. He is an active participant in 11 surgical societies and serves on several national committees including APSA, EAST, and the SUS.

David and his wife, Christine, have three children. When not working, David and Christine spend much of their free time involved in their children's numerous activities. He enjoys alpine skiing, tennis, and running.

On a personal level, I would like to thank David for his hard work with this volume and more importantly for his time away serving our country, away from his family. I have known David since he was my junior resident when I was an intern and postgraduate year 2 on my rotations at the University of Washington. As great of a teacher he was then, it is more enjoyable to witness firsthand what a tremendous leader he has become in pediatric surgery. On behalf of the readers and staff of Clinics of Colon and Rectal Surgery, I sincerely thank Dr. Gourlay for serving as a Guest Editor and for providing us with a superb issue on pediatric colorectal disease.