Celebrating Professor Emeritus of Surgery Dr. Henry Buchwald

I am pleased to share that Professor Emeritus of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Henry Buchwald, MD, PhD, is being honored with a Festschrift at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 15, 2025. The Festschrift event aims to celebrate the exceptional career and contributions of acclaimed surgeon and researcher Professor Henry Buchwald, MD, PhD.

Dr. Buchwald has been the recipient of numerous NIH and other organizational grants for research. He was the Principal Investigator of the 20-year Program on the Surgical Control of the Hyperlipidemias, the first randomized clinical trial to demonstrate that cholesterol lowering by the partial ileal bypass surgery resulted in cardiovascular disease reductions and prolonged life expectancy. Additionally, he was a pioneer in bariatric surgery and the co-author and primary advocate of the concept of metabolic surgery. He has 20 patents to his name, including the first implantable infusion pump to use insulin delivery and continuous chemotherapy.

In addition to an exemplary career as a clinical surgeon, Dr. Buchwald is known as a teacher and educator. 

He was the first Owen and Sarah H. Davidson Wangensteen Chair in Experimental Surgery and served as the Director of Graduate Surgical Training and Surgical Residency. Additionally, he was voted by his peers to head the University of Minnesota Hospital Credentials Committee for 15 years. And in 2002, the Minnesota Medical Alumni Society presented him with the Harold S. Diehl Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Professional Contributions.

Dr. Buchwald is a remarkable surgeon, innovator, mentor, and a true trailblazer in metabolic surgery. His legacy and contributions to the field are immense, and I am proud to see one of our Department's own honored in this way. Congratulations to Dr. Buchwald!

Sincerely,

Sayeed Ikramuddin, MD, MHA
Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery
Jay Phillips Professor