James Urbaniak, MD

Dr. Urbaniak grew up in Fairmont, West Virginia. He was the valedictorian of his high school class, but his sporting prowess earned him a scholarship to the University of Kentucky to play football under Bear Bryant. He would go onto become an Academic All-American at UK and has since been inducted into the UK Hall of Fame. He earned his medical degree from Duke University (’62), and followed with a residency at Duke University. He joined the prestigious staff at Duke and became a world-renowned hand and microvascular surgeon.

He served as the Chief of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director of Hand Surgery for two decades and trained more than 160 residents, 62 clinical fellows, and 80 research fellows.

Dr. Urbaniak became one of the world’s experts on limb and digit replantation and ischemia reperfusion. His special interest in restoring blood flow led to his development of the free vascularized fibular graft for femoral head AVN. His achievements have led to authoring 13 books and over 300 scientific articles. His has been president of 11 organizations including the American Orthopaedic Association, American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orthopaedic Research Education Fund, and the American Society for Surgery of the Hand to name a few.

Some of his awards include the AOA ABC Travel Fellow, the Kappa Delta Award, and the Duke University Lifetime Achievement Award.