Dr. Michael Maddaus

Dr. Maddaus had a difficult childhood growing up in Minneapolis. As a juvenile he got in trouble with the law multiple times and his home life was troubled. However, by seizing upon positive people and opportunities, he was able to turn his life around and become Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Minnesota and is featured in the upcoming PBS series, This Emotional Life (airing January 4-6).

Dr. Maddaus is a professor of surgery and chair of the Division of Thoracic and Foregut Surgery at the University of Minnesota. A native of Minnesota, he graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School with honors. From 1982-1990, he trained in general surgery at the University of Minnesota, following which he completed two years of specialty training in thoracic surgery at the University of Toronto and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

Dr. Maddaus returned to the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota in 1992. He rose through the ranks from assistant professor to full professor of surgery and was appointed the chair of the Division of Thoracic & Foregut Surgery. His clinical specialty is surgery of the esophagus, stomach and lungs, which, as director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, has a focus on minimally invasive, endoscopic and robotic surgery. He has been voted “Best Doctor” by Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine annually for many years. He also directs the nationally known general surgery training program at the University of Minnesota, where he leads innovative programs for residents in personal development, professionalism and leadership.

Academically, Dr. Maddaus is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and 30 medical book chapters, and the principle investigator of national clinical trials in lung cancer. Because of his many contributions both locally and nationally he was honored with the Garamella-Lynch-Jensen Chair in Surgery, the Medical School Alumnus of the Year Award (2003) and the Wangensteen Award for Excellence in Teaching (2008). Dr. Maddaus is also editor of the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery and was recently elected to membership in the American Surgical Association, the most prestigious surgical society in North America.