Rod Rohrich

Founding Partner Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute

Last Reviewed: July 30, 2026

Executive Summary

Rod Rohrich, MD, FACS, is a board-certified plastic surgeon and founding partner of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute, widely regarded as one of the most influential plastic surgeons of his generation. His career spans more than four decades across academic medicine, medical publishing, and a global clinical practice with a particular focus on rhinoplasty, revision rhinoplasty, facelift surgery, and facial rejuvenation.

Career Highlights

• Founding partner of the Dallas Plastic Surgery Institute, where he maintains a global clinical practice.
• Professor and Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center from 1991 to 2014, during which the department grew into one of the largest and most academically productive plastic surgery programs in the country.
• President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in 2004, the largest professional society of board-certified plastic surgeons in the world.
• Editor-in-Chief (now Editor Emeritus) of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the field’s leading peer-reviewed journal.
• Named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in Plastic Surgery for 26 consecutive years as of 2026.
• Ranked by Newsweek as the top U.S. plastic surgeon in rhinoplasty and facelift surgery for multiple consecutive years.

Professional Journey

Rohrich joined the Division of Plastic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center in 1986 after completing a plastic surgery residency at the University of Michigan Medical Center, pediatric plastic surgery training at the Radcliffe Infirmary/Oxford University in England, and a fellowship in hand and microvascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He was appointed Department Chairman in 1991, a position he held for over two decades while building the program into one of the largest and most productive academic plastic surgery departments in the world; in 2014, the UT Southwestern plastic surgery residency program was voted the top program in the country by physicians.

Beyond his academic leadership, Rohrich has held nearly every major leadership position in American plastic surgery, including President of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, President of the Association of Academic Chairmen of Plastic Surgery, President of The Rhinoplasty Society, and Director of the American Board of Plastic Surgery. He also chaired the Plastic Surgery Residency Review Committee of the ACGME, which oversees accreditation for all U.S. plastic surgery training programs.

As Editor-in-Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Rohrich is credited with transforming the journal into the field’s most respected peer-reviewed publication worldwide; he now serves as Editor Emeritus. He has authored or edited numerous academic textbooks, including Dallas Rhinoplasty: Nasal Surgery by the Masters, and has published extensively on facial anatomy and aging, including influential work describing the facial fat compartments involved in the aging process.

Rohrich chairs the Dallas Rhinoplasty and Cosmetic Surgery Meeting, which has trained thousands of plastic surgeons worldwide, and is a founding member and past president of the Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery (AiRS), a nonprofit supporting reconstructive surgery access for breast cancer survivors regardless of financial status.

Education

Rohrich earned undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota, followed by his medical degree with highest honors from Baylor College of Medicine.