William P. Magee Jr., D.D.S., M.D.
CEO and Co-founder
Operation Smile, Inc.
Norfolk, Virginia
Dr. William P. Magee Jr., a leading plastic and craniofacial surgeon, founded Operation Smile, Inc., with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, B.S.N., M.Ed., M.S.W. Under the Magee’s leadership, Operation Smile, a private, not-for-profit volunteer medical services organization has provided reconstructive surgery and related health care to indigent children and young adults in developing countries and the United States.
Globally, Operation Smile has trained thousands of physicians and other health professionals who volunteer their time to perform advanced medical procedures in their own local hospitals, dramatically improving the quality of life for tens of thousands of children. In 1999 the Magee’s launched World Journey of Hope ’99, the largest surgical mission in history dedicated to correcting facial deformities among some of the world’s neediest children. The nine-week mission, the first-ever of its kind, transformed the lives of more than 5,300 children and young adults in 17 developing countries and in ten cities across the United States.
In addition, Operation Smile is planning a study of 9,000 pregnant women to test diet and nutrition supplements as a way to reduce rates of deformity.
The Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation is honored to have had the assistance of the following distinguished individuals serving on the 2002 Frank Annunzio Awards Evaluation Committee:
Michael Graves – President and Principal, Michael Graves & Associates, Princeton, NJ (Mr. Graves was the recipient of the 2001 $50,000 Frank Annunzio Award in the Arts/Humanities field.)
Emma Lapsansky, Ph.D. – Professor of History and Curator, Special Collections, Magill Library, Haverford College, Haverford, PA
Reeve Lindbergh – President, The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, Minneapolis, MN
Joseph B. Neville, Jr. – Program Officer, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, DC
David Williams – Chief Operating Officer, Habitat for Humanity International, Americus, GA
