Fiemu Nwariaku, the Helen Lowe Bamberger Colby Presidential Endowed Chair in Health Sciences at the University of Utah, has recently been named president-elect of the Society of Black Academic Surgeons. He will serve in this capacity for one year, becoming the organization’s thirty-second president in September 2026.
Dr. Nwariaku joined the University of Utah in 2022 as a professor and chair of the department of surgery in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. Prior to his current appointment, he spent 26 years at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, where he held several positions, such as the Malcom O. Perry Professor of Surgery, executive vice chair of the department of surgery, founding vice chair for research, and founding associate dean for global health.
As a physician, Dr. Nwariaku specializes in endocrine surgery, with a particular focus on caring for patients with diseases of the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and pancreas. Additionally, he is a leading clinician in robotic surgery and minimally invasive surgery.
After earning his medical degree from the University of Ibadan College of Medicine in Nigeria, Dr. Nwariaku completed residencies in surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He also holds an MBA from the physician executive program at the University of Tennessee.
