James C. Denneny III, MD, FACS

Executive Vice President and CEO, AAO-HNS

James C. Denneny III, MD, is the Executive Vice President/CEO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery and its Foundation (AAO-HNS/F), one of the oldest medical associations in the United States. The Academy represents about 13,000 otolaryngologist—head and neck surgeons who treat the ear, nose, throat, and related structures of the head and neck.

He is a past president of the AAO-HNS/F, with 17 years of service on the Boards of Directors and 22 years on the Board of Governors, including a term as chairman. Dr. Denneny has held leadership positions in many partnerships, coalitions, and workgroups such as the Academy’s Physician Payment Policy Workgroup and the Ad Hoc Payment Model Workgroup. He was also the Academy’s Coordinator for Socioeconomic Affairs on two occasions.

His career has spanned both private and academic practice. Before serving the Knoxville, TN, community for 24 years as a private practitioner, he held academic appointments in Houston and Indianapolis. In 2011, he left private practice to join the Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Missouri, where he remains Adjunct Professor of Clinical Otolaryngology. He is part-time at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as an Adjunct Professor.  He assumed his current role as Executive Vice President/CEO in December 2014.

Dr. Denneny received a Bachelor of Science from Baylor University in Waco, TX. He earned his medical degree and finished a general surgery internship at the University of Oklahoma Medical School. He completed his residency in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA, with a subsequent fellowship in facial plastic reconstructive surgery at the University of Illinois in Chicago, IL with M. Eugene Tardy, MD. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), has served as Secretary of the ACS Board of Governors and is a member of the ACS Board of Regents.

During his term as president of the organization, the first Diversity and Inclusion Committee was formed in 2009 and the first Chair, Duane Taylor, MD, has become the first African American president of the organization. During his six-year tenure as EVP/CEO, four of the five women presidents in the Foundation’s history have been elected. Dr. Denneny has a specific interest in investigating social determinants of health through the clinical data registry established several years ago. He is also initiated a campaign to educate and recruit medical students from underrepresented minorities into the specialty.

He has two adult children, Jimmy and Jackie.