David Gourlay, MD, FACS, FAAP

Marie Z. Uihlein Chair in Pediatric Surgery
Surgeon-in-Chief, Children’s Wisconsin
Professor of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin

David M. Gourlay, MD, is Surgeon-in-Chief at Children’s Wisconsin (CW) and Professor of Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), where he holds the Marie Z. Uihlein Chair in Pediatric Surgery. Dr. Gourlay is clinically busy as a Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgeon at Children’s Wisconsin. As Surgeon-in-Chief oversee the operational, academic, administrative, and financial performance of surgical specialties across two campuses, supporting over 200 providers and staff. Our team performs more than 18,000 pediatric procedures each year. 

Since joining Children’s Wisconsin in 2006, Dr. Gourlay has advanced clinical care, education, research, and surgical leadership throughout the institution and region. He previously served as Chief of the Division of Pediatric Surgery at MCW and as Medical Director of Trauma at CW, where he led the system to Level I Pediatric Trauma Center verification by the American College of Surgeons—the highest national recognition for trauma care.

An accomplished academic surgeon, Dr. Gourlay has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts, book chapters, and reviews, and has delivered over 140 invited lectures nationally and internationally. His research focuses on surgical quality improvement, pediatric trauma systems, and neonatal intestinal injury, with active involvement in multi-institutional collaborations. He serves on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) NICU Verification Program Advisory Board and as a site reviewer for both the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and the AAP NICU Verification Program. Dedicated to education and mentorship, he has trained generations of students, residents, fellows, and research scholars. His contributions have been recognized with multiple honors, including MCW’s Standing Ovation Award, Outstanding Medical Student Teacher Award, Milwaukee Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40, Children’s Wisconsin’s Excellence in Professionalism Award, and the American Red Cross Brave Hearts Award.

Dr. Gourlay also has a distinguished 25-year record of service in the U.S. Army Reserve, retiring in 2023 at the rank of Colonel after six combat deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo. His military service earned him multiple commendations, including the Combat Action Badge, Army Commendation Medals, and campaign medals for service in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He received his BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his MD from the MCW, followed by general surgery training at the University of Washington and a fellowship in pediatric surgery at CW. He completed executive leadership training at the Harvard School of Public Health and is currently pursuing a Physician MBA at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Outside of medicine, Dr. Gourlay enjoys time with his wife Christine and their three children, as well as tennis, alpine skiing, and family trips to Vermont.