William Hoffman, M.D.
- Professor of Surgery
- Chief, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Stephen J. Mathes, MD, Endowed Chair in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Dr. William Hoffman is the Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at UCSF. He graduated cum laude from Yale University and obtained his MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He completed training in General Surgery at UCSF in 1983 and in Plastic Surgery at UCSF in 1985.
An additional year of training was spent at the Institute for Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at NYU with Dr. Joseph McCarthy studying craniofacial and cleft lip surgery. Subsequently, Dr. Hoffman returned to UCSF to join the faculty, serving as the chief of plastic surgery at San Francisco General Hospital from 1988 to 1996, and Director of Education for the division from 1996 to 2005. He became the head of the division in 2005.
Recently, Dr. Hoffman led a successful effort to pass legislation in California greatly expanding insurance coverage for children with disfiguring cleft palate and other craniofacial anomalies. Hoffman, a pioneer of cranial re-animation surgery and acknowledged innovator in the field, performs complex and intricate surgeries at the UCSF Center for Craniofacial Anomalies. Working in tandem with orthodontists and other specialists, he and colleagues work to restore children's faces to a normal appearance and improve their breathing and ability to chew.