Sid Tolchin is a retired board-certified neurosurgeon, a one-time member of the San Diego Police Department Reserve, and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Additionally, Sid is a retired captain, having served in the United States Navy and Navy Reserve for thirty-five years, including deployments in the Antarctic and the Vietnam War. He has been an aviator since his youth and has received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for having completed over sixty years of safe flight. His accomplishments include the past presidencies of the California Association of Neurological Surgeons and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Also, he served as an early director of the Head and Spinal Cord Injury Prevention Program for Children, Think First.
Sid is married to Penny Kistler Tolchin, a retired registered nurse, a prior risk manager for the Sharp HealthCare System, and an original supporter of the Gregory Kistler Treatment Center for Children in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Together, they have seven children, ten grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren—all healthy and successful in their own endeavors. Now, Penny and Sid live in the woods of Hendersonville, North Carolina, amidst the friendship and remarkable lifestyle of southern hospitality and outdoor adventure.