OPERATION SMILE, INC.
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA

Operation Smile Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer William (Bill) P. Magee Jr., D.D.S., M.D., is a plastic and craniofacial surgeon who founded Operation Smile in 1982 with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, and serves as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Magee has been awarded honorary doctorates from some of the finest universities worldwide, including the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden in 2014. He was awarded the American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ Honorary Citation Award in 2014, the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons’ Tagliacozzi Award in 2013. Dr. Magee was highlighted in US News & World Report’s issue “America’s Top Leaders” in November 2009 and was given the National Medal for Peace and Friendship Among Nations in Vietnam in 2009. In 2007, UNICEF presented the Magees with a special recognition on behalf of Operation Smile and he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He entered into the Plastic Surgery Practice in Norfolk, Va. in 1978 and became president of the group, which at the time was the largest private training program in the United States. In 2016, he stepped away from the practice to invest all of his effort and energy into Operation Smile. Operation Smile Co-Founder & President Kathleen (Kathy) S. Magee, B.S.N., M.Ed., M.S.W., a former nurse and clinical social worker, founded Operation Smile in 1982 with her husband, William P. Magee Jr., D.D.S., M.D. Kathy serves as the president of Operation Smile on a full-time, volunteer basis and is a lifetime member of the Board of Directors. A dedicated advocate for children around the world, Kathy travels overseas extensively to nurture and maintain key corporate, diplomatic and medical partnerships that enable Operation Smile to carry out its surgical missions. She has been instrumental in establishing several Operation Smile international foundations, which handle all of the logistical aspects of the medical missions and has led a majority of the organization’s fact finding missions. Kathy is deeply involved with Operation Smile's Student Programs, which provide the opportunity for students to learn about volunteerism and support Operation Smile's work by raising funds and awareness. Since the mid-1980s, Student Programs have grown to involve thousands of students in hundreds of student associations around the world. Kathy's work on behalf of children around the world has led to the receipt of numerous awards and honors. She received the first $1 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 1996 for "… exemplary and significant contributions to ease human suffering" and the Servants of Peace Award from the UN representative to the Vatican in 1997. In 1999, the Magees received the Golden Plate Award, "representing the many who excel in the great fields of endeavor" by the American Academy of Achievement. In February 2004, Kathy was inducted into the Toledo-based Medical Mission Hall of Fame, in honor of making a difference in the health of her fellow human beings; and in 2004, the organization was awarded The Humanitarian Rose Award from The People’s Princess Charitable Foundation, Inc., London, England. In 2005, Kathy was awarded the Operation Smile Lifetime Volunteer Achievement Award, and in 2007, USAID presented the Magees with the President’s Call to Service Award from President George W. Bush. For many families in developing countries, early surgery may not be an option, due to lack of financial resources, qualified medical staff and other factors. Since 1982, Operation Smile has been dedicated to finding these families around the world and providing them with surgery so they can live happy healthy lives. - Kathy Magee, Operation Smile Co-founder and President A volunteer on Operation Smile's second medical mission to Vietnam, Susan Andrew recalls a life-changing experience. How You Can Help Operation Smile is a 501(c)(3) organization. Operation Smile is a 501(c)(3) organization.