ICS-US Section 2008 President, Dr. Vijay Mittal Honored as Living Legend
The Living Legend Award for the Michigan Chapter of the American College of Surgeons is given to highly accomplished surgeons who have dedicated their entire career to surgery. Vijay Mittal, MD, FACS, FICS, FRCS received this award for his lifelong commitment to the practice of surgery and the impact that he has made on global surgical education, especially in the State of Michigan. Dr. Michael Jacobs, ICSUS Past President (2018), recognized Dr. Mittal as his mentor and a mentor to countless others, driving the nomination for this prestigious award.
Dr. Mittal has been the chief and program director of surgery at Henry Ford Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan. He holds a clinical appointment as Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery at Wayne State University School of Medicine and Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. He is also the chairman of the research, patient safety and QI committee.
Dr. Mittal was born in Lahore, India. He completed his medical education at Amritsar Medical College followed by surgical residency at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India. He later joined the faculty at the same institution and participated in the first kidney transplant at PGI in 1972 in India. He came to the United States in 1975. He has been at Providence Hospital since 1988.
Dr. Mittal has been an ICS member since 1992 and is also a member of various surgical societies including ACS, ASTS, APDS, WSA, MSA, AHPBA, IHPBA, SAGES, SESC, ASE, International Society of Transplantation, and a founding member of the Transplant Society of India. Dr. Mittal’s scholarly activities include greater than 280 published articles in peer review journals, more than 425 paper presentations, video presentations, multiple visiting professorships and 42 book chapters. Dr. Mittal is the Editor-in-Chief of “Comprehensive Textbook of Surgery” and Senior Editor of American Journal of Robotic Surgery. He is on the editorial board of many surgical journals. He has received multiple research and teaching awards. He has delivered >100 guest lectures at various institutions and conferences.
He was awarded a Fulbright Distinguished Scholarship in teaching and research by the Fulbright Commission. His Fulbright project involves evaluation of global surgical education. In 2025, Dr. Mittal was inducted into the Academy of Master’s Surgeon Educators and bestowed honorary fellowship by the Society of Surgeons of Nepal. This year, Dr. Mittal received the Caduceus Society Physician of the Year Award.
Congratulations Dr. Mittal!