Kenneth E. Salyer, MD
Kenneth E. Salyer, M.D., is internationally recognized as a leader and pioneer in craniofacial surgery. He is the founder and Chairman of the World Craniofacial Foundation as well as the founder of the International Craniofacial Institute and the Cleft Lip and Palate Treatment Center at Medical City Dallas Hospital.
He received his M.D. degree in 1962 from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City and performed his residency training in general surgery at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. He completed a surgical fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, and performed his plastic surgery residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine on an award received from the National Institutes of Health. In 1969, Dr. Salyer became the first Chairman of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. He held this position for nearly ten years and attained an academic ranking of full professor. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at the Department of Orthodontics and the Department of Biomedical Sciences of the Baylor School of Dentistry, a member of the Texas A&M System.
Dr. Salyer entered private practice in 1979 but has continued to maintain his commitment to research and teaching regarding the treatment of cleft lip and palate, bone replacement and regeneration and craniofacial anomalies and has made an active contribution to academic and research activities in the field. He has been the director of one of the leading fellowship training programs in craniofacial surgery for the past 30 years. Dr. Salyer established the International Craniofacial Institute in Dallas in 1986. To the present, over 13,000 patients from 75 countries and every state in the U.S. have been treated in Dallas. His personal operations have totaled over 16,000 surgical procedures. He has contributed over 190 peer-reviewed scientific articles and chapters in the scientific literature. He has co-authored 8 books and is the co-author of a two-volume color Atlas of Craniofacial and Cleft Surgery, published in 1999. As a world-renowned surgeon, Dr. Salyer has given over 1,000 presentations at national and international congresses. He is a member of 50 national and international professional societies and has been in many leadership roles in many of these organizations. He is past-President of the International Society of Craniofacial Surgery and founding member, past-President of the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgery, past-Chairman of the Plastic Surgery Research Council, past-Chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section of Plastic Surgery, past-President of the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons, and past-President of the American Society of Craniofacial Surgery. He has received numerous honors and awards, including Visiting Professor with the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons 2007-2008, Volunteer of the Year with ASAPS in 2007, two honorary professorships in China, and many honorary memberships and awards in international professional societies.
Dr. Salyer has appeared on national television programs, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, Regis and Kathy Lee, the Les Brown Show, Dateline NBC, the Discovery Channel, Connie Chung LIVE, Good Morning America, the TODAY Show, and a CNN series on craniofacial surgery, to name a few. His charitable work with children with craniofacial differences was featured in a cover story in PARADE Magazine. As Chairman of the World Craniofacial Foundation, Dr. Salyer is leading its mission to provide help, hope, and healing to those with craniofacial abnormalities around the world.
