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Draft:Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir

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Dr.
Fernando Gonzalez
Born
Luis Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir

La Paz, Bolivia
NationalityAmerican
Education
  • A.B. Biology, Harvard University (1981)
  • M.D., Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (1985)
  • Residency at New York University Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (1985-1991)
OccupationUrologist
Years active1985-2022
Known forClinical urology; prostate cancer treatment; minimally invasive urologic surgery
AwardsCertified by the American Board of Urology (ABU); nominated for an American Red Cross Hero Award

Fernando Gonzalez (urologist) (born 1960) is an American medical doctor and surgeon, Board certified in urology.[1] He is also known as Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir, especially in Spanish-speaking countries. He was educated at Harvard University (AB Biology 1981, cum laude) and Northwestern University School of Medicine (class of 1985), with residency training at New York University Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.[2][3] [4] Notably, two of his medical school classmates were his first cousin cardiologist Dr. Patricia Cavero[5] and NASA astronaut Dr. Michael Barratt (astronaut). Dr. Gonzalez was a keynote speaker at the V Congress of the American Confederation of Urology ("Confederacion Americana de Urologia") held at La Paz, Bolivia in 1999.[6] [7] He demonstrated for his Bolivian and Latin American colleagues advanced surgical techniques, especially with respect to brachytherapy for prostate cancer, which, at the time, was not well known in Bolivia (a local newspaper published a color photo of him making a presentation).[8] During his career, Dr. Fernando Gonzalez was licensed to practice medicine in Illinois [9], Indiana [10] and New Mexico.

In addition, Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir has been active in philanthropy (with gifts in money as well as in kind), supporting, among other institutions, the National Geographic Society (Grosvenor Council) [11], Shirley Ryan AbilityLab of Chicago, Illinois, Carle Foundation Hospital of Urbana, Illinois, Harvard University [12], Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, the school of engineering at the UMSA (Universidad Mayor de San Andres) in La Paz, Bolivia[13], the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island[14], the Club de Tenis La Paz[15] , the Colegio La Salle of La Paz, Bolivia [16], the Danville Symphony Orchestra (Illinois), and the Order of St. Sharbel [17]. The philanthropy of Dr Gonzalez includes providing urological surgeries free of charge to low-income patients.[18]

Early Years

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Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir was born in La Paz, Bolivia. His parents were Walter Gonzalez Gonzalez, a civil engineer, and Nelly Sfeir de Gonzalez, a lawyer. His early schooling was at the American Cooperative School of La Paz (aka Colegio Calvert), where the language of instruction was English and the curriculum was based on United States standards. Most of his classmates were either American or European, and his dominant language was English. His family emigrated to the United States in 1967 during a time of Bolivian political instability, punctuated by frequent military coups, and with the guerilla campaign of Che Guevara in its incipient stage. The family settled in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir attended Yankee Ridge elementary school in Urbana and Urbana Junior High School prior to the family's return to La Paz, Bolivia in 1974. During one school year in Bolivia, he attended the Colegio LaSalle, at the time an all-boys school of the De La Salle Brothers, a Roman Catholic teaching order. In subsequent years, he has been a philanthropic supporter of the school. [19]

High School Years

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1n 1977, Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir graduated from Champaign Centennial H.S. (Illinois), where he was a National Merit Scholar[20] [21] and a US national prize winner, 1977 "Century III Leaders" sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. [22] [23] [24] [25] During his high school years, he played on the varsity tennis team[26], winning team conference[27] and district titles[28] as a sophomore and serving as team captain as a senior. He was also a member of the school's debate team.

Family Tradition in the Medical Profession

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Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir comes from a family, with ancestral origins in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia, that is heavily focused on the medical profession. His older brother Walter Ramiro Gonzalez Sfeir, educated at the Universidad of Seville (Spain), was an intensivist[29] . One paternal uncle and one maternal uncle, by marriage, were also medical doctors. On his paternal side, two of his first cousins are medical doctors and one is a dentist. On his maternal side, five first cousins are medical doctors, and another first cousin is a nurse. One of his first cousins is Dr. Jorge A. Cavero, who was honored in 2022 by the Carnegie Corporation with its Great Immigrants Award. A great great grandfather on his maternal side was Dr. Salvador Cabero Rollano, one of the founders of the first general hospital in the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, the Hospital Clinico Viedma (commencement of construction 1880; completion in 1884). [30] Dr. Salvador Cabero Rollano was married to Petronila Zeballos, sister of the Bishop of Cochabamba Angel Maria Zeballos. The Zeballos family owned a large estate in Tiquipaya.[31] Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir never married, but he is godfather to one niece (also a medical doctor and the National Hispanic Medical Association 2021 "Resident of the Year")[32] and one nephew (a 2018 Rhodes Scholar). [33]

Post Medical Career

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Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir was forced into early retirement from his career as a medical doctor following a stroke suffered in December 2022[34]. Since then, he has dedicated himself to philanthropy and travel to World Heritage Sites such as Rome and Vatican City[35] , Cuzco and Machu Picchu[36] and the Acropolis in Athens. [37]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Physician Verification - American Board of Urology". American Board of Urology. Retrieved September 16, 2025. search result for Fernando Gonzalez indicates certification in Urology.
  2. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  3. ^ "Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir, 40 annos de excelencia medica" [Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir, 40 years of medical excellence] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: El Diario newspaper. August 6, 2025.
  4. ^ "El Club de Tenis La Paz ya tiene su ladrillo en el "paseo de la fama" del Tenis Internacional" [The La Paz Tennis Club now has its brick on the "walk way of fame" at International Tennis Hall of Fame]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. August 22, 2025. Los hermanos Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir (medico cirujano urologo) y Javier Gonzalez Sfeir (abogado de empresas), ambos jubilados, de visita en el Casino de Newport, cuna del tenis de los Estados Unidos y sede del Museo del Salon de Honor del Tenis Internacional ("International Tennis Hall of Fame")
  5. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  6. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  7. ^ "Un interesante curso internacional de urologia se realiza en esta ciudad" [An interesting international symposium on urology is taking place in this city] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: El Diario newspaper. March 19, 1999. p. 8 – via Newspaper Collection of Library of Congress, Washington DC. El Dr. Fernando Gonzalez, que trajo la representacion de EEUU a este evento medico, hizo una amplia explicacion sobre la Braquiterapia en cancer de prostata. Tambien dio a conocer detalles relacionados con la cura preventiva de este mal y los metodos que se deben emplear. [Dr. Fernando Gonzalez, who represented the US at this medical conference, gave a comprehensive presentation on the use of Brachytherapy in [the treatment of] prostate cancer. In addition, he made known particulars about the prevention of this malady and the methods that need to be employed.]
  8. ^ "Un interesante curso internacional de urologia se realiza en esta ciudad" [An interesting international symposium on urology is taking place in this city] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: El Diario newspaper. March 19, 1999. p. 8 – via Newspaper Collection of Library of Congress, Washington DC. El Dr. Fernando Gonzalez, que trajo la representacion de EEUU a este evento medico, hizo una amplia explicacion sobre la Braquiterapia en cancer de prostata. Tambien dio a conocer detalles relacionados con la cura preventiva de este mal y los metodos que se deben emplear. [Dr. Fernando Gonzalez, who represented the US at this medical conference, gave a comprehensive presentation on the use of Brachytherapy in [the treatment of] prostate cancer. In addition, he made known particulars about the prevention of this malady and the methods that need to be employed.]
  9. ^ Sarah Bush Lincoln (September 6, 2019). "Welcome Urologist Fernando Gonzalez, MD". Sarah Bush Lincoln News. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  10. ^ "Fernando Gonzalez, MD, Urologist". Today's Nurse. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
  11. ^ "Annual Report 2022" (PDF). National Geographic Society. 2022. p. 76. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
  12. ^ "Class Notes: Class of 1981 Fernando Gonzalez". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 129, no. 7. September–October 2025. p. 56F – via magazine collection of Widener Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Fernando Gonzalez returned to Harvard on June 6 [2025]to attend the Alumni Day celebrations and took the opportunity to donate to Leverett House a vintage print of a mountain vizcacha from Potosi, Bolivia. Gonzalez first encountered these rabbit-like creatures on a past journey to the Salar de Uyuni (the largest salt flat in the world) and the Laguna Colorada (summer home of the Andean pink flamingo).
  13. ^ "Fruto de un amor que continua a florecer despues de la muerte" [Fruit of a love that continues to grow after death]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. November 6, 2024. Desde 1994, el Premio Ing. Walter Gonzalez se concedio ininterrumpidamente durante mas de 30 annos. Entre los presentadores del premio se encuentran...Fernando Gonzalez...
  14. ^ "El Club de Tenis La Paz ya tiene su ladrillo en el "paseo de la fama" del Tenis Internacional" [The La Paz Tennis Club now has its brick on the "walk way of fame" at International Tennis Hall of Fame]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. August 22, 2025. Los hermanos Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir (medico cirujano urologo) y Javier Gonzalez Sfeir (abogado de empresas), ambos jubilados, de visita en el Casino de Newport, cuna del tenis de los Estados Unidos y sede del Museo del Salon de Honor del Tenis Internacional ("International Tennis Hall of Fame")
  15. ^ "El Club de Tenis La Paz ya tiene su ladrillo en el "paseo de la fama" del Tenis Internacional" [The La Paz Tennis Club now has its brick on the "walk way of fame" at International Tennis Hall of Fame]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. August 22, 2025. Los hermanos Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir (medico cirujano urologo) y Javier Gonzalez Sfeir (abogado de empresas), ambos jubilados, de visita en el Casino de Newport, cuna del tenis de los Estados Unidos y sede del Museo del Salon de Honor del Tenis Internacional ("International Tennis Hall of Fame")
  16. ^ "El Coliseo de Roma en LEGO" [Rome's Coliseum in LEGO blocks] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: El Diario newspaper. May 17, 2024. El modelo fue una donacion al colegio de los ex-alumnos Fernando y Javier Gonzalez Sfeir, que se inspiraron luego de una reciente visita navidena a la "Ciudad Eterna". Los hermanos Gonzalez Sfeir fueron estudiantes La Sallistas precisamente hace 50 anos. [The model was a donation to the school from the alumni Fernando and Javier Gonzalez Sfeir, who were inspired to make the donation following a recent Christmastime visit to the "Eternal City". The brothers Gonzalez Sfeir were students at La Salle exactly 50 years ago.]
  17. ^ "The Order of Saint Sharbel New Members" (PDF). The Maronite Voice. Vol. 21, no. 4. Brooklyn, NY: Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn. July–August 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2025. The Order of Saint Sharbel is an organization of lay people and clergy who have pledged their spiritual strength and financial support for Our Lady of Lebanon Seminary and the retired Maronite clergy of the Maronite Eparchies in the USA.
  18. ^ Del Valle, Galeno. "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 anos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of Sfeir Cabero marriage, first cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession]. Opinion newspaper (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia. El Dr. Fernando Gonzalez nunca olvido el pais de su nacimiento. Participo como perito expositor en el Congreso de la Confederacion Americana de Urologia que se llevo a cabo en La Paz en marzo de 1999 y, en tal ocasion, ejecuto varias cirugias de prostata, demostrando para sus colegas bolivianos nuevas tecnicas quirurgicas, incluyendo el uso de implantes radioactivos contra el cancer de prostata (braquiterapia). No cobro un centavo a los pacientes por estas cirugias. [Dr. Fernando Gonzalez never forgot the country of his birth. He participated as a key note speaker at the Congress of the American Confederation of Urology that took place in La Paz in March 1999 and, on such occasion, he performed several prostate surgeries, demonstrating for his Bolivian colleagues new surgical techniques, including the use of radioactive implants against prostate cancer (brachytherapy). He did not charge a single penny to his patients for these surgeries.]
  19. ^ "El Coliseo de Roma en LEGO" [Rome's Coliseum in LEGO blocks] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: El Diario newspaper. May 17, 2024. El modelo fue una donacion al colegio de los ex-alumnos Fernando y Javier Gonzalez Sfeir, que se inspiraron luego de una reciente visita navidena a la "Ciudad Eterna". Los hermanos Gonzalez Sfeir fueron estudiantes La Sallistas precisamente hace 50 anos. [The model was a donation to the school from the alumni Fernando and Javier Gonzalez Sfeir, who were inspired to make the donation following a recent Christmastime visit to the "Eternal City". The brothers Gonzalez Sfeir were students at La Salle exactly 50 years ago.]
  20. ^ "Scholarship Finalists". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. March 11, 1977 – via Champaign County Historical Archives at the Urbana Public Library, Urbana, Illinois.
  21. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  22. ^ Century III Leaders National Meeting. Century III Leaders Scholarship Program. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia: National Association of Secondary School Principals, Office of Student Activities. March 24–28, 1977.
  23. ^ Program for the National Meeting of the Century III Leaders. Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia: National Association of Secondary School Principals, Office of Student Activities. March 24–28, 1977.
  24. ^ "Gonzalez Finalist in Competition". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 7, 1977 – via Champaign County Historical Archives at the Urbana Public Library, Urbana, Illinois.
  25. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  26. ^ "Centennial Spring Sports Honored -- Boys' Tennis". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 21, 1977 – via Champaign County Historical Archives at the Urbana Public Library, Urbana, Illinois.
  27. ^ "Charger Tennis Team Captures Capitol Title". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 21, 1975 – via Champaign County Historical Archives at the Urbana Public Library, Urbana, Illinois. Centennial's number two doubles team of Tim Iben and Fernando Gonzalez contributed two key points with an upset victory over a team from Springfield Lamphier in the first round.
  28. ^ "Centennial Wins District Tennis Title". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 11, 1975 – via Champaign County Historical Archives at the Urbana Public Library, Urbana, Illinois.
  29. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  30. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  31. ^ Del Valle, Galeno (August 6, 2025). "Nietos del matrimonio Sfeir Cabero, primos hermanos festejan 40 annos de carrera medica" [Grandchildren of the Sfeir Cabero marriage, brother cousins celebrate 40 years in the medical profession] (in Spanish). Cochabamba, Bolivia: Opinion newspaper.
  32. ^ Hispanic National Medical Association [@NHMA2021] (March 19, 2021). "Congratulations to our 2021 Poster, Resident and Young Physician Award recipients!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. ^ Ellis, Lindsay (November 20, 2017). "Native Houstonian Xavier Gonzalez named Rhodes scholar". Houston Chronicle. Houston. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  34. ^ "Class Notes: Class of 1981 Fernando Gonzalez". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 116, no. 4. March–April 2024. p. 56F – via magazine collection of Widener Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In December 2022, I suffered multiple bilateral cerebral strokes, leaving me in a coma and near death. Thanks to quick action by my younger brother Sergio '87, timely intervention at the ER of my OSF community hospital in Danville, admission for one week to the ICU at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, two weeks as an inpatient at the Shirley Ryan Activity Center in Chicago the number-one-ranked rehabilitation hospital in the country), one month of intensive aphasia outpatient therapy under Edna Babbitt, PhD, daily prayer, and long walks, one year later I am alive and well, fully recovered from aphasia, and playing tennis again.
  35. ^ "Class Notes: Class of 1981 Fernando Gonzalez". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 116, no. 4. March–April 2024. p. 56F – via magazine collection of Widener Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Grateful to God for all my blessings, in December [2023], I traveled to Rome with my brothers, Sergio '87 and Javier '80, JD '83, on pilgrimage. We visited all of the most significant Ancient Roman and Roman Catholic sites...
  36. ^ "Class Notes: Class of 1980 Javier Gonzalez-Sfeir". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 127, no. 5. May–June 2025. p. 60D – via magazine collection of Widener Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. the Inka citadel of Machu Picchu is a world heritage site on the 'must-see' list of most cosmopolitan travelers, regardless of national origin. For my brother Fernando '81 and me, however, Machu Picchu is doubly important, as we are partly descended from Inka nobility. Thus, it was the trip of a lifetime for us to join a Harvard Alumni Travel Tour in June 2024 to Cuzco, the Sacred Valle of the Inka, and Machu Picchu.
  37. ^ "Class Notes: Class of 1981 Fernando Gonzalez". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 128, no. 6. July–August 2025. p. 56D – via magazine collection of Widener Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now, older and grayer, I was fortunate to have the opportunity (a sixty-fifth birthday gift from my brother Javier '80) to reprise the intellectual and spiritual journey in search of the Greek hero-but this time actually walking along the sacred ways of Mycenae, Olympia, Delphi, and the Acropolis of Athens, guided by the ever-youthful and timeless Prof. Nagy (or, 'Prof. Greg,' as he prefers to be addressed)


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