He was previously Professor and Chief of Vascular Surgery and Program Director at the University of Arizona College of Medicine (1994 – 2015) and Co-Director of the Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance (SALSA).
He has authored over 450 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Mills has been a co-editor of Rutherford’s Vascular Surgery (7th – 9th editions) and is also a current Vascular Surgery Section Editor for UpToDate. He has been the principal investigator for over 45 clinical trials covering a wide spectrum of vascular disease with a focus on limb salvage, chronic limb threatening ischemia and diabetic foot ulcers. He is Past-President of the Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society and also served as Treasurer of the SVS (Society for Vascular Surgery), Chair of the SVS Distinguished Fellows Council, and Secretary-Treasurer of the Western Vascular Society. Dr. Mills is a previous director of the ABS, past Chair of the Vascular Surgery Board (2010-2013) and completed a 7-year term on the RRC-S (2014-21). He is also Past-President of the Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery (APDVS), the Rocky Mountain Vascular Society and the Western Vascular Society. Most recently, he has led the SVS PPO Committee, helping spearhead the SVS Branding Campaign. He has extensive clinical experience in multiple practice settings, including: military; VA; county; university, and private hospitals. In June 2021, he was elected the Vice President of the Society for Vascular Surgery and is its current President (2023-24).
Dr. Mills received both his BS (1977) and MD (1981) degrees cum laude from Georgetown University. He subsequently completed residency programs in General Surgery at Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center (Lackland AFB), Vascular Surgery at Oregon Health Sciences University (Portland), and a Senior Endovascular Surgery Fellowship at Texas Tech University (Lubbock). He and his wife, Margaret Schneider Mills, are the proud parents of three sons (Joseph Jr., Daniel and Andrew) and six grandchildren (Edward, Thomas, Joseph III, Lucas, Ruth and Nolan).