The  Winemaker

Craig Senders, a physician and Professor at UC Davis joined the Department of Otolaryngology (Ear Nose and Throat) in 1984. Craig specializes in Pediatric Otolaryngology with a sub-focus on Facial Birth Defects like Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate. He has served as the Director of the UC Davis Cleft and Craniofacial Program for over 20 years, and travels to third World countries for pro bono cleft surgery annually.

As a Professor and the Director of the Residency Training Program in Otolaryngology he has the rewarding opportunity of guiding our future surgeons. As a physician and surgeon, Senders’ passions run strong. 

These have been honored through three humanitarian awards, the UC Davis Distinguished Public Service Award, the Academy of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (Oto-HNS) Jerome C. Goldstein Public Service Award and the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) Community Service Award.  These awards were earned for his assistance in establishing Face to Face and for service to the less fortunate in the world.

Face to Face, founded in 1992, is a humanitarian and educational surgical exchange program conducted under the sponsorship of the AAFPRS.  In the United States and abroad, AAFPRS surgeons provide complimentary care to those who suffer from facial birth defects and traumatic deformities from war or domestic violence.  Senders has had a strong personal commitment to help the lessfortunate in third world countries with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.  He has made pro bono trips to Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, the Philippines, and Russia the to name a few.

When not in the operating room or in a third world country, Senders has turned his love of drinking wine into his passion of  making wine.  And like everything else he does, he went into this at full speed.  The high energy, multitasking specialist, Craig Senders had the guidance of another energetic, multitasking friend, Henry Spoto.  ….continue with the existing.