Brownlee leaves Eagle to lead Medical Society

Phillip Brownlee, The Wichita Eagle’s editorial page editor since 2001, will leave the company to become executive director of the Medical Society of Sedgwick County.

The society announced Thursday that its board of directors selected Brownlee from more than a dozen candidates during a three-month search. He will begin his new post in mid-May.

He succeeds Jon Rosell, who became the Kansas Medical Society’s executive director in January.

“Phillip will do a great job for the MSSC,” Denis Knight, the society’s president, said in a statement.

“He knows how to weigh different perspectives and come up with solutions that meet the needs of the organization as a whole. His critical thinking and candor will be assets to the MSSC and its members.”

Brownlee has been with The Eagle since 1996, first as an editorial writer and then as editorial page editor. Prior to that he worked as a certified public accountant in Dallas and was public information director at Sterling College in Kansas.

He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business administration from Sterling College and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.

“One of the things that drew me to this position was the mission focus of the medical society and its members,” Brownlee said in Thursday’s statement. “The physicians care deeply about their patients and the community. It is a great organization filled with great people.”

The Medical Society of Sedgwick County, founded in 1903, represents physicians on issues related to the private practice of medicine. It has about 1,200 members – more than 90 percent of practicing physicians in Sedgwick County.