Former Israel Surgeon General Yitshak Kreiss to Visit FAU

Yitshak Kreiss, M.D., an internationally renowned leader in disaster, emergency and humanitarian medicine and former Israel Defense Forces surgeon general, will visit Florida Atlantic University.

A leading expert in military medicine, disaster management, and health care administration, Kreiss will mentor students, provide leadership for faculty development, and conduct academic lectures and workshops, as well as public presentations in South Florida.


By james hellegaard | 10/21/2015

Yitshak Kreiss, M.D., an internationally renowned leader in disaster, emergency and humanitarian medicine and former Israel Defense Forces surgeon general, will visit Florida Atlantic University to deliver a series of presentations at its Boca Raton and Jupiter campuses.

Kreiss comes to FAU by the College of Business and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, which recently approved his appointment as a clinical affiliate professor. A leading expert in military medicine, disaster management, and health care administration, Kreiss will mentor students, provide leadership for faculty development, and conduct academic lectures and workshops, as well as public presentations in South Florida. 

This week he will attend several events that are free and open to the public, including:

  • Kreiss will make two presentations to the Lifelong Learning Society at FAU’s  John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 5 p.m., and at FAU’s Boca Raton campus on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.
  • The MBA Test Drive, an event for prospective students in FAU’s Executive and Professional MBA programs. The event will be on Saturday, Oct. 24, from  8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m at the College of Business. Kreiss will be a guest lecturer at 11 a.m. To attend, reserve a space online

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Kreiss to Florida Atlantic University,” said FAU President John Kelly. “We are so fortunate to have the unique opportunity to work with an extraordinary physician and humanitarian leader who will be able to share his wisdom, expertise and compassion with our faculty and students as well as members of our community.”

Kreiss, a pioneer in the field of emergency medicine and disaster relief leadership, has treated victims in catastrophic events all around the world, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti when he led Israel’s medical response team. He also has led humanitarian missions in the Philippines, Syria, Bulgaria, Sinai, Egypt and Macedonia, and has served as medical commander in numerous wars and operations.

“I am very excited to join the faculty at Florida Atlantic University and I look forward to working with President Kelly and the University’s faculty and students,” said Kreiss. “Working together will provide us with an important platform to exchange knowledge and expertise as well as build bridges with academic, research and other strategic institutions throughout Israel.” 

Kreiss has treated victims in some of the most unimaginable emergency and disaster situations throughout the world. He has received various awards for his outstanding contributions to the world’s medical efforts during humanitarian crises in, both, war and peacetime. He was awarded a Doctorate of Medicine degree from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and completed his internal medicine residency training at Sheba Medical Center. He holds a Master of Health Administration degree from Tel Aviv University and a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University.

Kreiss’ research in health management in times of emergency focuses on the various aspects of disaster and humanitarian medicine including management of field hospitals and medical support, leadership in times of emergency, ethics and medical care for typical disaster challenges. His articles within this field have been published in some of the world’s leading journals. 

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