Paul Raymond Goldwyn Cunningham

1949 -

Paul Raymond Goldwyn Cunningham

On July 9, 2008, one hundred years after the groundbreaking ceremony that marked one beginning point in East Carolina’s history, Paul R. G. Cunningham, M. D., was named the new dean of ECU’s Brody School of Medicine. Cunningham was not only the first African-American to serve as dean of the Brody School, he was, at the time of his appointment, one of only seven African-American medical deans in the United States. Aware of the historic event, the Journal of the National Medical Association recognized Cunningham as one of three presiding African-American deans at majority medical schools in the United States. Coinciding with his appointment, the William E. Laupus Health Sciences Library hosted a national traveling exhibit, “Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons,” celebrating the achievements of African-American pioneers in academic surgery.

Throughout his professional career as a surgeon and dean, Cunningham was a leader in the medical community. A native of Mandeville, Jamaica, he completed his medical degree at the University of the West Indies in 1972. He did his residency in surgery at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Subsequently he practiced surgery at the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital and City Hospital at Elmhurst in New York City. In 1981, Cunningham relocated to Windsor, North Carolina, where he served as vice chief of the medical staff at Bertie Memorial Hospital. In 1984, he joined the full-time faculty at the Brody School of Medicine and began practicing surgery at Pitt Memorial Hospital (now Vidant). The following year, he became the hospital’s director of trauma, and in 1991, its chief of staff. In 1990, Cunningham was commissioned as a major in the Army Reserve Medical Corps and served in that capacity until his discharge in 1998.

In 1993, Cunningham was named professor of surgery at the Brody School of Medicine. From 1999-2002, he served as Pitt Memorial Hospital’s chief of surgery. In 2002, he was named chair of the Department of Surgery at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. In 2008, Cunningham returned to ECU to become the Brody School of Medicine’s first African-American dean, a position he held with distinction until his retirement in 2016. As a faculty, Cunningham continues to teach surgery at the Brody School.

Cunningham has served as president of the Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma in 2000. He also has served as a governor of the American College of Surgeons. In 2013, Cunningham received the Presidential Award from the National Medical Association for his continued dedication to medical education. In 2016 Cunningham was installed as the first African-American president of the North Carolina Medical Society and inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest honor for service. In 2018, Cunningham was awarded the Jacobi Medallion from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

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Citation Information

Title: Paul Raymond Goldwyn Cunningham

Author: John A. Tucker, PhD

Date of Publication: 4/3/2018

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