On July 10, 2025, the Department of Surgery hosted an investiture ceremony to celebrate Dr. Joshua Mezrich, Professor in the Division of Transplantation and the Mark A. Fischer Chair in Transplantation. Dr. Rebecca Minter, Chair of the Department of Surgery, gave welcome remarks at the ceremony and then presented Dr. Mezrich with his medallion. The investiture ceremony concluded with a presentation from Dr. Mezrich titled “The Cutting Room Floor: The Stories My Editor Wouldn’t Let Me Tell.”
The Mark A. Fischer Chair in Transplantation was established in 2015 by Marney Smyth Fischer and Mark A. Fischer, with the goal of supporting research in Transplantation. This Chair is used to recruit and maintain talented faculty in the Division of Transplantation.
Since joining Wisconsin Surgery in 2007, Dr. Mezrich has proven to be an accomplished surgeon in the research, education, and clinical spaces. He specializes in kidney and liver transplants and his research interest is in transplant tolerance and how environmental exposures alter the immune system. In 2019, Dr. Mezrich published a book titled When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon. In this book, Dr. Mezrich discusses the history of transplants, patients’ stories, and his experiences as a transplant surgeon.
The Department of Surgery would like to thank the generous donors and friends that made this Chair possible.