The University of Louisville Board of Trustees has named Jeffrey “Jeff” Bumpous, M.D., chair of the newest department in the UofL School of Medicine, the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and Communicative Disorders. Bumpous was named chair at the board’s meeting on June 4.

The board established the new department at its May 14 meeting by elevating the program from two divisions within the Department of Surgery in a move that strengthens the provision of clinical care to patients and education and training to future physicians as well as audiologists and speech pathologists. At UofL, otolaryngologists practice with University of Louisville Physicians-Ear, Nose and Throat. Communicative disorders professionals practice with UofL Physicians-Hearing & Balance and UofL Physicians-Speech Pathology.

“Dr. Bumpous brings a wealth of educational, clinical and research experience to the department chair’s position,” said Toni Ganzel, M.D., dean of the UofL School of Medicine. “We could have no one better to launch our new department for the benefit of our students, residents and faculty as well as the patients we serve.”

Bumpous is the J. Samuel Bumgardner Professor of Otolaryngologic Surgery and chief of the former Division of Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery. He has been at UofL since 1994 and leads a multidisciplinary team of health care providers in treating cancers of the head and neck. These include cancers of the mouth, larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), nasal cavity, sinuses, salivary glands and thyroid gland.

A native of Fort Benning, Ga., Bumpous earned his bachelor’s degree from Morehead State University and his medical degree from UofL. He completed his internship and residency in general surgery, otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Saint Louis University and a post-graduate fellowship in advanced head and neck and cranial base surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.

Bumpous currently is president of the Society of University Otolaryngologists and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Otolaryngology. He has served as associate editor of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery and on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Surgery and Laryngoscope. He also has served in leadership roles in the American Academy of Otolaryngology, the American Head and Neck Society, the Kentucky Society of Otolaryngology, the Louisville Otolaryngologic Society and other professional organizations.

Bumpous was named St. Louis University’s 1989 Intern of the Year. During his tenure at UofL, he has won three Vincent J. Hyams resident teaching awards signifying his leadership in mentoring young physicians. He is a 2003 Recipient of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Honor Award. In 2013, he was named Physician of the Year by UofL’s James Graham Brown Cancer Center, a part of KentuckyOne Health. He is board-certified in otolaryngology and is lead or co-author of more than 60 journal articles and scientific book chapters.