Dr. Alan S. Boulos, MD ’94 Installed as 18th Dean of Albany Medical College
Alan S. Boulos, MD ’94 was installed as the Lynne and Mark D. Groban, MD ’67 Distinguished Dean of Albany Medical College in a formal ceremony on Friday, April 19 at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center.
The College’s eighteenth dean, Dr. Boulos is the third alumnus and first neurosurgeon to be named to the medical school’s top position. He was named to the position in 2022 and the ceremony was deferred to coincide with his thirtieth Albany Medical College reunion.
More than 400 people attended the event, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, community leaders, and Dean Boulos’s family, friends, and mentors.
Event speakers included Ellen Cosgrove, MD, vice dean for academic administration; Dennis P. McKenna, MD ’92, president and chief executive officer of the Albany Med Health System; Brian Valerian, MD, president of the medical staff and the Susan Droege Distinguished Chair in Surgery, who spoke on behalf of faculty; Ursula Matulonis, MD ’87, president of the Alumni Association; Maggie Gillis, vice chair of the Albany Medical Center Board of Directors; and students Kainat Akhtar, who spoke on behalf of the college’s Graduate Studies Programs, and Symone Reid, who spoke on behalf of the medical students.
To mark the occasion, Dr. McKenna presented Dr. Boulos with the Decanal Medallion, a symbol of the dean’s authority to lead the college in its mission of education, research, and patient care.
“As we stand on the precipice of a new era, it is fitting that we entrust the leadership of Albany Medical College to someone who personifies the spirit of innovation and excellence that defines us,” said Dr. McKenna. “Dr. Alan Boulos, a distinguished neurosurgeon and esteemed alum, is not just a leader; he is the embodiment of our values and aspirations.”
Dr. Boulos reflected upon the college’s recent notable accomplishments, including a successful Match Day celebration for its senior medical students and the implementation of Albany Medical Center’s electronic health record, and more than $20 million in basic and clinical research funding received in one year.
“I am honored and proud to stand before you today as the eighteenth dean, and at such a significant moment in Albany Medical College’s rich history,” said Dr. Boulos. “This day is not so much about me as it is about this fine institution’s past, present, and future.”
Among his goals for the college, Dr. Boulos spoke about the importance of giving students and faculty a voice, and identified the continued integration of the Albany Med Health System, health equity, and the continued commitment to its community as institutional priorities.
Dr. Boulos, who has worked at Albany Medical Center since 2002, was named chief of the Division of Neurosurgery in 2009 and was named the inaugural chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in 2013. He is also the Herman and Sunny Stall Chair of Endovascular Surgery, founding director of neurovascular surgery, and professor of neurosurgery and radiology.
Dr. Boulos comes from a line of neurosurgeons: His grandfather, Samuel Boctor, MD, is credited with bringing modern neurosurgery to Egypt. Dr. Boulos’s father, Magdy Boulos, MD, followed in his father-in-law’s footsteps, specializing in neurosurgery, and ultimately moving his family to the United States.
Dr. Boulos grew up in Rochester, N.Y., and Delaware. He is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Albany Medical College physician-scientist joint degree program. He completed his neurosurgery residency at Albany Medical Center before completing a fellowship in neuroendovascular surgery at Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo.
Dr. Boulos and his wife, Maria Boulos, MD ’94, who has practiced at the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center, have three sons.
As dean, Dr. Boulos oversees the work of more than 2,000 staff, including biomedical scientists in four interdisciplinary research centers and more than 500 faculty physicians. Nearly 840 medical and graduate students are enrolled in the College, which confers the doctoral degree in medicine, Master of Science degree in Nurse Anesthesiology, Master of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies, and Master of Science and doctoral degrees in biomedical sciences and bioethics.