Frank Virnelli, MD, D ’60, MED ’61 

Assistant Professor of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine; Plastic Surgeon, Boston; Medical Director, International Volunteer Surgical Missions  

 

 

Frank R. Virnelli, MD, D ’60, has spent his life embodying Dartmouth’s mission to transform lives through service. After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1960, he earned his BMS from Dartmouth Medical School the following year and completed his medical degree at Harvard in 1963. He went on to specialize in plastic surgery at Tulane University before serving as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Returning to Boston, he established himself as a respected plastic surgeon and an admired educator, balancing a thriving practice with a deep commitment to teaching and service.

 

Dr. Virnelli’s greatest impact has extended far beyond his medical career in the United States. Over the course of his life, he participated in 33 volunteer surgical missions in Latin America and Africa, serving as medical director on five of these efforts. Specializing in cleft lip and palate repair, his work restored both health and hope for countless infants born with severe congenital deformities. What gave him particular satisfaction was not only performing the surgeries but teaching local surgeons, residents, and students techniques that allowed them to achieve stronger outcomes long after the missions ended. He takes special pride in mentoring a young surgeon who later co-founded an organization providing care across five developing countries— an achievement Dr. Virnelli considers a lasting extension of his own legacy.   

 

As assistant professor of surgery at Boston University School of Medicine for 17 years, Dr. Virnelli trained generations of residents, instilling in them the same dedication to service that defined his own career. Beyond the classroom and operating room, he volunteered as a Scoutmaster, guided a troop for intellectually impaired boys, joined disaster relief efforts, served his church’s leadership, and worked with the Cummings Foundation in selecting non-profit grant recipients. Together with his wife, he also cofounded discretionary funds supporting health equity at Dartmouth and liberal arts education at the University of New Hampshire.

 

For Dr. Virnelli, service has always mattered more than recognition or financial success. His deepest fulfillment comes from knowing that those he trained continue to share their skills freely, ensuring that his work endures through the compassion of others. 

 

 

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