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After completing her residency in general surgery at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 1986, Bass took a research fellowship at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research while serving as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

She joined the GW faculty as a general surgeon and surgeon-scientist at the Washington, D.C., Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Bass soon excelled in both research and leadership. Next, at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and University of Maryland Medical System, she was a professor of surgery, program director of the residency in general surgery, and associate chair for research and academic affairs.

After joining Houston Methodist Hospital, Bass developed the Department of Surgery there from the ground up. In addition, she founded and directed the Houston Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation and Education, a state-of-the-art education and research center that has hosted training courses for more than 55,000 health care providers in practice. She also held positions at Weill Cornell Medical College, the Houston Methodist Institute for Academic Medicine and the Texas A&M University College of Medicine.

In the GW leadership post since January 2020, Bass leads the academic, clinical and research missions and provides strategic direction on all aspects of the medical enterprise.

Her current interests include computational surgery, health services research and outcomes sciences, and clinical trials in surgical oncology, including breast cancer surgery, following two decades of bench research in gastrointestinal biology. She has published more than 170 peer-reviewed papers, as well as numerous monographs, chapters and books.

“Dr. Bass’ career has been defined by her excellence as a researcher, surgeon, educator and professional leader,” wrote Dr. David Wilkes, former dean of �鶹�ƽ�� School of Medicine, in nominating her. “As an educator, you will find no one more dedicated to her trainees than Dr. Bass. She has been a mentor to medical students, surgical residents, research fellows and faculty, and directly contributed to the training of hundreds of surgical residents. She has also been a strong advocate for equity and diversity for women and underrepresented minorities in health care careers and in academic advancement.”

Bass said the UVA medical foundation has served her well throughout her career as an academic surgeon, educator, investigator and leader.

“Those principles and values have guided my professional life, pushing me to serve others and to open doors of opportunity so that they, too, might find great joy in their work and grow as leaders with equal voice to advance our profession while serving our many important missions.”

Bass has improved her field through her national service and leadership, as chair of the American Board of Surgery, president of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract and the Society of Surgical Chairs, and most recently as the 98th president of the American College of Surgeons.

The Distinguished Alumna honorees include an outstanding group of advocates, public servants, journalists, athletes, researchers and innovators chosen over the past 25 years, including 1992 graduate Dawn Staley, a basketball Hall-of Famer, multiple Olympic gold medalist and head women’s coach at the University of South Carolina; and two awardees in 2020 – Nancy Howell Agee, who earned her B.S.N. from the School of Nursing in 1979 and is CEO of Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic, and Marion Weiss, who graduated from the School of Architecture, also in ’79, who is a co-founder and partner at WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism. (Weiss and Michael Manfredi also were named 2020 recipients of the .)

“I am stunned, and immensely grateful,” Bass said, “to be recognized for simply doing the work that I have loved and been privileged to do, nearly every day, for the last 41 years.”