BIOGRAPHY:  Wesley L. Hicks, Jr.

Although his father, Dr. Wesley Hicks, Sr. practiced dentistry in his office on Michigan Avenue, the Hicks family lived on a farm in Angola, New York.  Wesley, Jr., his brother Paul and sister, Ranelle grew up on this farm, where the family maintained a herd of dairy cows.  Dr. Hicks’ mother, Portia Roland Hicks, had been a law student at the University of Michigan before her marriage to the elder Dr. Hicks.

Wesley is a graduate of Cornell University, where he studied history and played Division I football.  He went to dental school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, also his father’s alma mater.  After graduating from Meharry, he immediately enrolled in medical school at the University at Buffalo.  He graduated in 1984.  his post-doctoral training is extensive, including residencies at UB and also Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.  In 1990, Dr. Hicks became a Head and Neck Surgery Fellow at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California.

Dr. Hicks is licensed by New York State and is certified by the national Board of Dental Examiners, the National Board of Medical Examiners and the American Board of Otolaryngology.  He is also Director, Head and Neck Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program at RPCI; Professor of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery and Professor of Neurosurgery at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.  

Dr. Hicks is a member of numerous professional organizations, including:  the National Medical Association; the National Dental Association; the Triologic Society; the American Medical Association; the American Dental Association; the American Society of Cell Biology; the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery; the American College of Surgeons; the American Head & Neck Society; the Society of Black Academic Surgeons.  He is a Senior Examiner for the American Board of Otolaryngology and serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Clinical Oncology. 

Dr. Hicks also has a number of community affiliations.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of HealthNow, Inc./Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York State; WBFO, the National Public Radio station in Buffalo; and the Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers. 

Dr. Hicks has authored or co-authored more than 150 journal publications, book chapters and abstracts, and has been issued numerous patents related to his interest in tissue engineering and wound healing. 

Dr. Hicks still lives in the house his father built in Angola.  In a 2006 Buffalo Spree article, he stated that “it’s where he finds respite and recharging.”  He also credits his parents with teaching him and his siblings “about social and community responsibility.  They taught us to be prepared; to develop a strong work ethic…A lot was expected of us, and I expect to accomplish a lot.”