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Alumni Merit Award: Peter G. Traber (GFSM84, 86)

Since completing his fellowship in gastroenterology at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Peter G. Traber has become an unparalleled leader in the field. Now president, CEO, executive dean, and professor at Baylor College of Medicine, Traber has behind him an impressive record of success in executive positions in the world of internal medicine.

Traber arrived at Baylor in 2003 from GlaxoSmithKline, where had been the senior vice president for clinical development and medical affairs as well as the chief medical officer. Prior to that, he had served a long tenure at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had been CEO of the university's Health System and interim dean at the medical school. He chaired the department of internal medicine for nearly three years, a span that saw the department quickly ascend in nationwide rankings of top medical schools. His first years at the university were spent as the chief of gastroenterology, in which capacity he greatly expanded the division of gastroenterology, including establishing the Gastroenterology Center, funded by the National Institutes of Health. It was also at the University of Pennsylvania, at the Wharton School of Business, that Traber completed the Management Development Program for Physician Executives.

At Northwestern, Traber completed his residency in internal medicine before focusing on gastroenterology as a fellow at the school. From Chicago, he moved to Ann Arbor, where he completed another fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. There, he helped build the research and clinical resources for the institute's gastroenterology division.

Wayne State Medical School, where the doctor earned his MD, honored him with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999. In 1993, the Northwestern University Medical Center gave him the Medical Center Alumni Award for Excellence in Gastroenterology. He has also been a fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a longtime member of the American Gastroenterological Association and has chaired several committees within the organization.

Traber's list of accomplishments is long, but what he is most proud of are the actions of Baylor College of Medicine in the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Baylor, heading the Alliance of South Texas Medical Schools, helped bring the entirety of Tulane's medical school to Houston, where the students could take classes and carry out their clinical rotations, making it possible for all seniors to graduate on time.

His wife, Bobbi, is on the faculty at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Management, where she specializes in medical and health care executive education. The couple has two children, Rebecca and Peter.