Fernando Gonzalez (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 Patricia Cavero[5] and NASA astronaut Michael Barratt. 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.[8] During his career, Fernando Gonzalez was licensed to practice medicine in Illinois,[9] Indiana[10] and New Mexico.[11] Gonzalez Sfeir is a peer reviewer for articles on surgery and urology for the Journal of the National Hispanic Medical Association.[12]

Advocacy in support of cultural, sporting and environmental matters

Gonzalez Sfeir has been an advocate for the international recognition of the Bolivian-born violin virtuoso Jaime Laredo. In January 2026, he authored a published commentary in the Bolivian newspaper of record El Diario (La Paz) describing Laredo as a "most excellent cultural ambassador of the Bolivia Brand," highlighting Laredo's role in projecting Bolivian cultural heritage through a distinguished international career in classical music and calling for the Bolivian foreign ministry to launch a diplomatic initiative to support the nomination of Laredo for the 2026 Princess of Asturias Prize in the Arts (Premio Princesa de Asturias).[13] Moreover, Gonzalez Sfeir cited Laredo's long career as a Grammy-winning musician, orchestra conductor, and educator, as well as his prominence within the Bolivian diaspora.[14] On December 24, 2025, Gonzalez Sfeir visited Laredo in the green room of Carnegie Hall following Laredo's farewell concert of Mozart compositions as conductor of the New York String Orchestra.[15]

Gonzalez Sfeir supported the campaign to obtain international recognition for the Club de Tenis La Paz (La Paz, Bolivia) on its centenary (1925–2025).[16]

Gonzalez Sfeir also has a long-standing relationship with The National Geographic Society, being a member of the Grosvenor Council[17]. On June 16–18, 2026, Gonzalez Sfeir was a guest of honor of the National Geographic Society for the unveiling of its new Museum of Exploration, celebration of its Explorer of the Year, and founding of its new honor category "Cartographer's Circle."[18] The Cartographer's Circle honors the National Geographic Society's iconic legacy of geography and mapmaking, in celebration of the opening of the Museum of Exploration.[19][20]

Early Years

Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir was born in La Paz, Bolivia. His parents were Walter González González, a civil engineer, and Nelly Sfeir de Gonzalez, a lawyer. On his father's side, he is of Spanish and Quechua descent; on his mother's side, he is of Lebanese, Spanish and Quechua descent. He has four brothers. His early schooling was at the American Cooperative School of La Paz (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.[21][22]

High School Years

In 1977, Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir graduated from Champaign Centennial H.S. (Illinois), where he was a National Merit Scholar[23][24] and a US national prize winner, 1977 "Century III Leaders" sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.[25][26][27][28] During his high school years, he played on the varsity tennis team,[29] winning team conference[30] and district titles[31] as a sophomore and serving as team captain as a senior.

College years

Gonzalez Sfeir attended Harvard University's Harvard College from 1977 to 1981, graduating in June 1981 with an A.B. in biology, cum laude. During his freshman year he lived at Holworthy Hall and during his sophomore year he lived at South House in the Radcliffe Quadrangle (Harvard). For his final two years, he lived at Leverett House.[32] One of his Leverett House room mates was ophthalmologist and retina specialist Dr. Pedro Francisco Lopez.[33][34][35][36][37] Gonzalez Sfeir concentrated (majored) in biology during college but had a secondary (minor) in folklore and mythology. He took Albert Lord's course Humanities 9 (Singer of Tales) and Gregory Nagy's course The Ancient Greek Hero.[38]

Medical school

Gonzalez Sfeir attended the School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois from 1981 to 1985. During his time there, he was mentored by Dr. John T. Grayhack,[39] a "world-renowned physician surgeon, researcher and scholar."[40] Grayhack was a recipient of some of urology's most prestigious awards, including the AUA's Hugh Hampton Young Award (1970), the Eugene Fuller Prostate Award (1989), the Russell and Mary Hugh Scott Education Award (1991), Ramon Guiteras Award (1994) and Presidential Citation (2012).[41] Grayhack also edited the Yearbook of Urology (1963–1978) and the Journal of Urology (1985–1994).[42]

Personal life

Gonzalez Sfeir never married and has no children. However, his goddaughter is Dr. Andrea Gonzalez Karpovics, a family medicine doctor in Seattle and his godson is Stanford-educated mathematician and statistician Xavier Gonzalez Smith,[43] who works in the field of Artificial Intelligence in Silicon Valley.

Gonzalez Sfeir is a naturalized US citizen, who has expressed his gratitude to, and admiration for, the United States of America in connection with the Sesquicentennial in 2026.[44] He has native fluency in English and Spanish, and he studied German in high school.

Family tradition in medicine

Fernando Gonzalez-Sfeir comes from a family with a history in medicine.[45] His older brother Walter Ramiro Gonzalez Sfeir, educated at the Universidad of Seville (Spain), was an intensivist.[46][47]

See also

References

  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. 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. 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. ↑ "Fernando Gonzalez, MD, Urologist in Rio Rancho, NM". MD.com. Retrieved 4 June 2026.
  12. ↑ "Journal of the National Hispanic Medical Association". nhmamd.org.
  13. ↑ Gonzalez-Sfeir, Fernando (January 10, 2026). "Jaime Laredo, excelentisimo embajador cultural de la Marca Bolivia" [Jaime Laredo, most excellent cultural ambassador of the Bolivia Brand]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  14. ↑ Llajtamasi, Homero (January 10, 2026). "El maestro Jaime Laredo en Carnegie Hall se despide con "broche de oro" como director de la New York String Orchestra luego de 33 anos" [Maestro Jaime Laredo at Carnegie Hall bids farewell, with a "gold ribbon," as the conductor of the New York String Orchestra after 33 years]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. Retrieved January 23, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Bolivia en el mundo: el maestro Jaime Laredo en Carnegie Hall" [Bolivia in the world: maestro Jaime Laredo at Carnegie Hall]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. January 10, 2026. Retrieved May 23, 2026. Los hermanos Fernando y Javier Gonzalez Sfeir con el maestro Jaime Laredo en su camarin luego de su concierto de despedida como director de la New York String Orchestra [The brothers Fernando and Javier Gonzalez Sfeir with maestro Jaime Laredo backstage after his farewell concert as conductor of the New York String Orchestra]
  16. ↑ "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")
  17. ↑ "Annual Report 2022" (PDF). National Geographic Society. 2022. p. 76. Retrieved 2025-09-09.
  18. ↑ "National Geographic Society rinde homenaje postumo al Ing. Walter Gonzalez" [National Geographic Society pays posthumous homage to Engineer Walter Gonzalez]. El Diario newspaper. La Paz, Bolivia. Como invitados de honor para la inauguracion del nuevo museo y homenaje postumo al Ing. Walter Gonzalez estuvieron presentes dos de sus cinco hijos, ...Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir y ...Javier Gonzalez Sfeir [As guests of honor for the inauguration of the new museum and posthumous homage to engineer Walter Gonzalez were present two of his five sons, ... Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir and ... Javier Gonzalez Sfeir]
  19. ↑ "National Geographic Society rinde homenaje postumo al Ing. Walter Gonzalez" [National Geographic Society pays posthumous homage to Engineer Walter Gonzalez]. El Diario newspaper. La Paz, Bolivia. El Circulo de Cartografos rinde homenaje al legado emblematico de la geografia y la cartografia de la National Geographic Society, con motivo de la inauguracion del Museo de la Exploracion [The Cartographer's Circle honors the National Geographic Society's iconic legacy of geography and mapmaking, in celebration of the opening of the Museum of Exploration.]
  20. ↑ "National Geographic Museum of Exploration".
  21. ↑ "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.]
  22. ↑ "Hno. David del Campo Calzada, nota necrologica" [Brother David del Campo Calzada, obituary] (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia: El Diario newspaper. October 24, 2025. A finales de marzo de 1974, cuando el ano escolar ya estaba en marcha, [el Hno. David del Campo Calzada] acogio a dos hermanos provenientes de Illinois, EEUU, que no encontraban cupo en cualquier otro colegio privado de la ciudad de La Paz, cumpliendo asi la ensenanza de nuestro senor Jesu Cristo: Mateo 25:35 "Fui forastero, y me recibisteis." [At the end of March 1974, when the school year had already begun, Brother David del Campo Calzada welcomed two brothers arriving from Illinois, USA, who could not find a place at any other private school in the city of La Paz, following in this way the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ: Mathew 25:35 "I was a foreigner and you welcomed me"]
  23. ↑ "Scholarship Finalists". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. March 11, 1977. p. local news.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ 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.
  26. ↑ 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.
  27. ↑ "Gonzalez Finalist in Competition". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 7, 1977. p. local news.
  28. ↑ 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.
  29. ↑ "Centennial Spring Sports Honored – Boys' Tennis". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 21, 1977. p. sports.
  30. ↑ "Charger Tennis Team Captures Capitol Title". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 21, 1975. p. sports. 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.
  31. ↑ "Centennial Wins District Tennis Title". Champaign, Illinois: Champaign-Urbana News Gazette. May 11, 1975. p. sports.
  32. ↑ "Class Notes: Class of 1981 Fernando Gonzalez". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 129, no. 7. September–October 2025. p. 56F. 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).
  33. ↑ "Class Notes: Class of 1981". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 128, no. 5. May–June 2026. p. 68c. Fernando Gonzalez writes: My six-degrees-of-separation connection with Fernando Mendoza is this: he is a graduate of Miami's Christopher Columbus High School, same as my Leverett House roommate Pedro Lopez, who graduated from University of Miami's School of Medicine.
  34. ↑ "Dr. Pedro F. Lopez – Ophthalmology – Miami, FL". castleconnolly.com.
  35. ↑ "The 2019 Guide to Top Doctors". Coral Gables Magazine. September 6, 2019.
  36. ↑ Penhollow, Steve (May–June 2017). "Top Latino Physicians". Latino Leaders Magazine. Pedro Francisco Lopez is director for retina and vitreous diseases at the Center for Excellence in Eye Care in Miami, Florida. Lopez attended the University of Miami School of Medicine, specializing in Macular Surgery. He graduated with a Distinction in Research. He has done work with such prestigious educational institutions as Harvard University, John's Hopkins University, Emory University and the University of Southern California. Lopez is an examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology. He is an active member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Vitreous and Retina Societies, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Society of Heed Fellows, and the American Medical Association. He serves as a scientific referee for such ophthalmological journals as the American Journal of Ophthalmology, International Ophthalmology, Archives of Ophthalmology, and the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
  37. ↑ "Dr. Pedro Lopez, MD – Ophthalmologist in Miami, FL". healthgrades.com.
  38. ↑ "Class Notes: Class of 1981". Harvard Magazine. Vol. 128, no. 6. July–August 2025. p. 56D. 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)
  39. ↑ Sarah Bush Lincoln (September 6, 2019). "Welcome Urologist Fernando Gonzalez, MD". Sarah Bush Lincoln News. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  40. ↑ "John Thomas Grayhack, 1923–2012". European Association of Urology. August 23, 2012.
  41. ↑ "John Thomas Grayhack, 1923–2012". European Association of Urology. August 23, 2012.
  42. ↑ "John Thomas Grayhack, 1923–2012". European Association of Urology. August 23, 2012.
  43. ↑ "Xavier Gonzalez gana premio Ingram Olkin de Stanford University" [Xavier Gonzalez wins Ingram Olkin Prize of Stanford University]. El Diario newspaper (in Spanish). La Paz, Bolivia. July 1, 2026. Xavier Gonzalez con su padrino Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir [Xavier Gonzalez with his godfather Fernando Gonzalez Sfeir]
  44. ↑ "America at 250—retired Carle Clinic physician Dr. Fernando Gonzalez". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. July 7, 2026. p. B-3. I am an American by choice and conviction who believes in the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." I have great gratitude to our country. I owe my life to great medical care I received at hospitals in Danville and Urbana [Illinois] after I suffered cerebral hemorrhaging and went in to a coma several years ago (I was 20 minutes from death). During my 40-year career as a medical doctor, I saved numerous lives. And then, other doctors saved my life. I thank God for our excellent medical system. May it always be so.
  45. ↑ 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. Los primos hermanos Sfeir Cabero continuan y renuevan la tradición medica de la familia. En total, 7 de los 17 nietos de Emilio Sfeir y Maria Cabero son médicos y una es enfermera [The Sfeir Cabero first cousins continue and renew the family medical tradition. In total, 7 of the 17 grandchildren of Emilio Sfeir and Maria Cabero are medical doctors and one is a nurse]
  46. ↑ 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.
  47. ↑ "Walter Gonzalez obituary". The News-Gazette. Champaign, Illinois. March 12, 2015.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Gonzalez_Sfeir