Armand D. Versaci, MD, P’76

Armand D. Versaci, 91, of Providence, died June 17, 2015. The son of Italian immigrants, he was the first Italian American to receive a degree from Harvard Medical School, in 1947. He performed more than 20,000 surgical procedures during his career at Women & Infants Hospital, the Providence VA Medical Center, and Rhode Island Hospital, where he was chief of the Department of Plastic Surgery. He co-founded the first residency program in plastic surgery in New England, at Rhode Island Hospital; and helped establish the program for plastic surgery at Brown, where he also created a plastic surgery exchange program with young surgeons from Italy. After retiring, in 1996, as clinical professor emeritus in surgery, he organized and participated in more than 60 medical missions in Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East to establish burn units and train local medical staff. An avid sailor and art enthusiast, he was a member of the board of trustees of the Rhode Island School of Design, and provided free medical attention to artists in need, including Dale Chihuly and Italo Scanga. In 1999, the Carter Family Charitable Trust established the Armand D. Versaci Research Scholar in Surgical Sciences Award at Brown, which hosts an annual lecture in his honor; the Congress of Italian and American Plastic Surgeons created the biennial Versaci Lectureship in 2004. He is survived by his four children, including Lisa ’76, and nine grandchildren. Gifts in his memory may be made to the Armand D. Versaci Research Scholar in Surgical Sciences Award-Brown University, Gift Cashier, Box 1877, Providence, RI 02912.