Gary Lees, a Certified Medical Illustrator, is Associate Professor, Chair of the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine and was the Director of the graduate program in Medical and Biological Illustration from 1983 to 2013 at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree in Zoology from Tulane in 1966 and his Master of Science in Medical and Biological Illustration from the University of Michigan in 1969.
His professional career began as a medical illustrator at Letter General Hospital in San Francisco. In 1970, he accepted a position as the illustrator for the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute with a faculty appointment in Art as Applied to Medicine. He became the Chair of Art as Applied to Medicine in 1983. While directing the graduate program he has been responsible for revising the curriculum for graduate studies in Medical and Biological Illustration to reflect the dynamic changes in digital and communication technologies including advances in data compression, three dimensional modeling, availability of advanced internet data transfer, and software innovations.
He has been an active Professional Member of the Association of Medical Illustrators (AMI) since 1971 and elected as an inaugural Fellow of the AMI. He was Chair of the AMI Board of Governors in 1983 and President in 2000. In 2003 he received the Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2010 the Max Brödel Award for Excellence in Education. He served as a member of the panel of experts for the annual Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge cosponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Science Magazine. Currently he is an Editor of the Journal of Biocommunication as well as a member of the JBC Management Board.
