Area Surgeon to Give Principal Address at Graduate Commencement

Apr 27, 2016
Joseph P. Bannon, M.D., ’83, chairman of the Department of Surgery at Regional Hospital of Scranton, will serve as the principal speaker at The University of Scranton’s graduate commencement ceremony Saturday, May 28 on campus.
Joseph P. Bannon, M.D., ’83, chairman of the Department of Surgery at Regional Hospital of Scranton, will serve as the principal speaker at The University of Scranton’s graduate commencement ceremony Saturday, May 28 on campus.

 Joseph P. Bannon, M.D., ’83, chairman of the Department of Surgery at Regional Hospital of Scranton, will serve as the principal speaker at The University of Scranton’s 2016 graduate commencement. He will also receive an honorary degree from the University at the ceremony, which will be held on Saturday, May 28, at 10:45 a.m. at the Byron Recreation Complex.

“Countless area residents and students, as well as current and future physicians, have benefitted greatly from the time and talent given so generously by Dr. Bannon,” said University of Scranton President Kevin P. Quinn, S.J. “We are grateful to the support he has given to the University for so many years and are pleased to have him as principal speaker at our graduate commencement.”  

Dr. Bannon is a founding member of the University’s Medical Alumni Council and has served on its executive committee for 20 years. He has also served on the University’s executive committee of the Pride, Passion, Promise Capital Campaign, Board of Regents and Board of Trustees.

Dr. Bannon is board certified in both general and colon and rectal surgery. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. He currently serves on the Board of Governors for the American College of Surgeons and is a member of the Executive Council of the Keystone Chapter of the American College. He is a past president of both the Lackawanna County Medical Society and a past president of the Pennsylvania Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.

A clinical professor of surgery at The Commonwealth Medical College, Dr. Bannon has authored and coauthored numerous journal articles and textbook chapters on surgery.

Dr. Bannon received the University’s Frank O’Hara Award for Medicine in 2013. The O’Hara Award is the highest honor bestowed jointly by the University and its Alumni Society. The awards recognize Scranton graduates and others who have achieved distinction in their professional or personal endeavors. He is also a member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the national Jesuit honor society.

A 1983 graduate of The University of Scranton with Bachelor of Science degree in biology and history, he received his Doctor of Medicine from Jefferson Medical College in 1987. Dr. Bannon served his residency in general surgery at Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, and was chief surgical resident in 1992. He completed a fellowship in Colon and Rectal Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He stayed on staff at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital until returning to Scranton in 1994.

Dr. Bannon resides in Clarks Summit with his wife, Tracy, a 1984 graduate of The University of Scranton and current Trustee. They have five children, Patrick ’10, Charlie ’12, Matthew ’13, G’14, Maggie ’15 and Kevin.


Back to Top