Bennet Omalu

Bennet Ifeakandu Omalu (born September 1968) is a Nigerian-America physician, forensic pathologist, and neuropathologist who was the first to discover and publish findings of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in American football players while working at the Allegheny County Coroner's Office in Pittsburgh.

 He later became the chief medical examiner for San Joaquin County, California, and is a professor at the University of California, Davis, Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Am only getting to know this man and his work abroad speaks for itself. 

Am a movie lover, so I promised myself to watch "Concussion"  after work today and I don't regret it at all. 

Will Smith took the character of Dr Omalu and he nailed it. Maybe is because I love seeing my country people succeed in their work and most especially celebrated for their contributions. 

Am so happy and I feel every Nigeria child needs to know about Dr Bennet Omalu as well as his dedication to hard work. 

Omalu was born in Nnokwa, Idemili South, Anambra in southeastern Nigeria, in September 1968, the sixth of seven siblings. He was born during the Nigerian Civil War, which caused his family to flee from their home in the predominantly Igbo village of Enugwu-Ukwu in southeastern Nigeria. They returned two years after Omalu’s birth.

Omalu's mother was a seamstress and his father a civil mining engineer and community leader in Enugu-Ukwu. The family name, Omalu, is a shortened form of the surname, Onyemalukwube, which translates to "he (she) who knows, speak."

Omalu began primary school at age three, and earned entrance into the Federal Government College Enugu for secondary school. He attended medical school starting at age 16 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 

After graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in June 1990, he completed a clinical internship, followed by three years of service work doctoring in the mountainous city of Jos. He became disillusioned with Nigeria after presidential candidate Moshood Abiola failed to win the Nigerian presidency during an inconclusive election in 1993 and began to search for scholarship opportunities in the United States. Omalu first came to Seattle, Washington in 1994 to complete an epidemiology fellowship at the University of Washington. 

In 1995, he left Seattle for New York City, where he joined Columbia University’s Harlem Hospital Center for a residency training program in anatomic and clinical pathology.

After residency, he trained as a forensic pathologist under noted forensic consultant Cyril Wecht at the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office in Pittsburgh. Omalu became particularly interested in neuropathology.

Omalu holds eight advanced degrees and board certifications, later receiving fellowships in pathology and neuropathology through the University of Pittsburgh in 2000 and 2002 respectively, a Master of Public Health (MPH) in epidemiology in 2004 from University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008.

Omalu is currently chief medical examiner of San Joaquin County, California and is a professor in the UC Davis Department of Medical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Dr Bennet Omalu has  Foundation that funds research, raises awareness, provides care and finds cures for people suffering from CTE and TBI. Its mission is "to advance the Humanity of Science."

Omalu is married to Prema Mutiso, a native of Kenya. They live in Lodi, California and have two children, Ashly and Mark. He is a practicing Catholic, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in February 2015.

Wow! ! !  I know right.  Such  Nigerians gives me hope and they  make my hard work seem like nothing and I love the push. 

Maybe He will give back to Nigeria if he hasn't already done that,  overall is good to know that a Nigerian made his life count.  Did I mention he rejected a white house job,  oh yes!  He did .