Speakers and Honorees

William P. Magee Jr., DDS, MD

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Operation Smile

2017 Keynote Speaker‌‌‌‌Commencement Keynote Speaker

William P. Magee Jr. is a plastic and craniofacial surgeon who founded Operation Smile in 1982 with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, BSN, MSW, MEd, and serves as the organization's chief executive officer.

Operation Smile, headquartered in Virginia Beach, Va., is an international children's medical charity with a presence in more than 60 countries, whose network of more than 13,000 medical volunteers from over 80 countries is dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children.

Since its founding in 1982, Operation Smile has provided hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults born with cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial deformities. To build long-term self-sufficiency in resource poor environments, Operation Smile trains doctors and local medical professionals in its partner countries so they are empowered to treat their local communities. Operation Smile also donates medical equipment, supplies, and provides year-round medical treatment through its worldwide centers.                       

Magee has trained and mentored thousands of physicians worldwide. A featured guest on many network television programs, Magee is also a sought-after keynote speaker for corporate and national meetings. In July 2013, he gave one of the keynote addresses to the National Speakers Association in Philadelphia.

Magee received a DDS from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry in 1969, an MD from George Washington University Medical School, served his general surgery residency at the University of Virginia Medical School, and received the Fulbright-Hays Scholarship Grant to study in Paris, France,  with Dr. Paul Tessier in 1975. He then received his plastic surgery training at the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va.

He has been awarded honorary doctorates from some of the finest universities worldwide, including the Karolinska Institute in Sweden in 2014. In 2016 he received the Eminent Persons Award from the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, was named a Disruptive Innovator in 2015 at the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards, was awarded the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' Honorary Citation Award in 2014, the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons' Tagliacozzi Award in 2013, was highlighted in U.S.News & World Report's issue "America’s Top Leaders" in November 2009, and was given the National Medal for Peace and Friendship Among Nations in Vietnam in 2009. In 2007, UNICEF presented the Magees with a special recognition on behalf of Operation Smile and he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

He entered into the Plastic Surgery Practice in Norfolk, Va., in 1978 and became president of the group, which at the time was the largest private training program in the U.S. In 2016, Magee stepped away from his private practice but continues to invest all of his effort and energy into Operation Smile.

Additional Speakers and Honorees

Ellen M. Heller, JD

In 1999, Heller was promoted to circuit administrative judge for the 8th Circuit, making her the first female administrative Circuit Court judge in Maryland.

Faiza Hasan

Faiza Hasan is about to graduate from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, where she has played an active role in numerous campuswide events.

Patricia Langenberg, PhD

Patricia Langenberg made many contributions to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in research, education, and service during her 25 years in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH).

Peter G. Angelos, JD

Maryland attorney Peter Angelos' legal experience and passion for the community make the Law Offices of Peter Angelos, P.C. synonymous with success and service.

Gary D. Plotnick, MD

Gary D. Plotnick, MD, graduated from the School of Medicine (SOM) in 1966, spent four years as a medical resident there (including a year as chief resident), two years as a cardiology fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital before joining the SOM faculty in 1974.

Leslie B. Glickman, PT, PhD

Leslie B. Glickman has spent the past half-century taking the pursuit of physical therapy to new heights as a clinician, rehab manager, administrator, educator, researcher, and field worker, regionally and internationally.

Read advice for the UMB Class of 2017 from this year's esteemed speakers and honorees.