Receiving a University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh Distinguished Alumni Award is Najjia Mahmoud, a national leader in colorectal surgery.
Mahmoud earned a UW-Oshkosh Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology and public health in 1989 and in 1993, earned an M.D. from Weill Medical College of Cornell University where she attended medical school and received surgical training. She served a fellowship in colorectal surgery at the University of Minnesota and then joined the faculty at Thomas Jefferson University and then two years later at the University of Pennsylvania, where she currently serves as Chief of Colorectal Surgery.
Mahmoud is considered a leader across the nation in her specialty and she has dedicated herself to advancing surgical care through program development, clinical innovation, and academic leadership within complex health systems.
“I have focused on building multidisciplinary clinical programs, developing research initiatives that improve surgical outcomes,” she said, “and mentoring the next generation of surgical leaders.”
She has conducted medical research which has been published extensively; and serves in editorial positions for internationally recognized medical journals. For more than 23 years, she has served on numerous committees of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons.
She has served as an examiner for the American Board of Surgery, testing general surgeons as they become board certified.
Joshua Bleier, a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Department of Surgery, offered a strong endorsement for Mahmoud to receive a UWO Distinguished Alumni Award.
Bleier said he has had an opportunity to observe firsthand “the extraordinary combination of intellectual rigor, leadership and integrity that defines her career.”
He said she is one of the most respected leaders in the specialty. He said she is not only an accomplished surgeon but an extraordinary mentor, colleague and friend.
“I can think of no individual who more fully embodies the excellence, leadership and service that the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh Distinguished Alumni Award is meant to recognize.”
UW-Oshkosh alumna Najjia Mahmoud, a national leader in colorectal surgery, speaks at the 2025 American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons scientific meeting.
Robert Fry, professor emeritus of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Health System, said he recruited Mahmoud as an assistant professor of surgery at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia in 2002. They both joined the Department of Surgery the following year at the University of Pennsylvania. For the past 14+ years, Mahmoud has served as Chief of the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery. The division includes eight surgeons who perform more than 2,600 cases annually—delivering state-of-the-art patient care across four hospitals and three outpatient clinics.
Najjia Mahmoud, left, is a 1989 graduate of the UW-Oshkosh.
Fry said Mahmoud is highly accomplished and has distinguished herself throughout her career.
National reputation
Mahmoud serves as president of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons and previously as president of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery. She said in those roles, she’s focused on initiatives that strengthen surgical education, professional standards and lifelong learning.
She also contributed editorial leadership as editor in chief for the field’s core textbook and developed an online learning platform designed to expand access to educational resources for surgeons and trainees.
She also has been working to develop standards for medical professionalism and national definitions of workplace standards for physicians.
Outside of her profession, she has a deep interest in Baroque music and serves on the board of Philadelphia’s Baroque Orchestra, Tempesta di Mare.
UWO’s impact
Najjia Mahmoud, front, engages with professional colleagues at the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons 2025 conference in San Diego, California.
“The role of UW-Oshkosh in shaping my life extends back to my childhood. My late father, Dr. Ibrahim Y. Mahmoud, was a research biology professor at UW-Oshkosh who taught developmental biology and anatomy/physiology.
“Some of the most formative—and privileged—moments of my early life took place in Halsey Science Building where my father’s office, classrooms and laboratories were located,” she said, “and where he and his colleagues cultivated an environment of inquiry and the pursuit of new scientific information through research. These surroundings and the people in them inspired me to develop a spirit of learning and discovery.”
She noted during her four years as a UWO student, James Paulsen offered her the opportunity to assist in his biochemistry research. She said she feels gratitude to him for providing the first step into the community of published scientific research.
Mahmoud said an alumni award is a great honor and a chance to reflect on a lifetime of achievement that would not exist without a good foundation—one that started at UWO.
The University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh will celebrate the talents and successes of eight alumni during Homecoming 2026 this October. Mahmoud is among four top graduates to be honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award for their accomplishments in their professional fields; three will receive Outstanding Young Alumni awards for their professional and civic accomplishments within 15 years of receiving their degrees; and one will receive the Alumni Outstanding Service Award for making exemplary contributions to support UWO through volunteer efforts, energy, leadership and/or philanthropic donations.
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