Professor Jonathan Laryea was born on May 1, 1970, in Kumasi. He attended Bantama Presby School in Kumasi from grades 1 to 3, and West Ridge Primary School in Sekondi from grades 4 to 6. Subsequently, he enrolled at St. John’s School from Form 1 to Form 5 and completed his Sixth Form education at Presbyterian Boys Secondary School. He scored the second highest A-Level results in West Africa. He graduated from the University of Ghana Medical School in 1998. During his senior year, he conducted neurosurgery research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. After completing his housemanship in Ghana, he relocated to the United States for advanced training, beginning with a residency in internal medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital, followed by general surgery at Waterbury Hospital – Yale School of Medicine. He later completed a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at Georgia Colon and Rectal Surgical Associates in Atlanta.

In 2008, Laryea joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery. He was subsequently promoted to associate professor in 2013 and to full professor in 2018. He has held various leadership roles within national and international organizations, including the executive council of the Association for Academic Surgery, the Surgical Section of the National Medical Association, and the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. Currently, he serves as the chair of the Surgical Section of the National Medical Association and has been the Arkansas chair for the Commission on Cancer with the American College of Surgeons since 2019. Additionally, he is the vice chair for education and international collaboration at the West African College of Surgeons. At UAMS, he has actively participated in several committees, including chairing the Medical School Admissions Committee and serving on the Promotion & Tenure Committee.

Jonathan is a man of faith. His Christian faith is the bedrock of his life. He believes that God gave him the gift of healing to enable him to extend the love of Christ to humanity. He is a global philanthropist, and is known for his work, especially in West and East Africa. He has devoted some of his free time to lecture and train some of the next generation of surgeons in countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia and Congo. He has also spent many of his vacations organizing teams of medical workers from the U.S and taking them on medical missions in Africa. He has collaborated with non-profit Christian organizations such as the Global Wisdom Network and has performed countless surgeries on the less fortunate, who could not afford it.

Jonathan is a doting father of his 2 daughters, Amerley and Amorkor. And is married to his dear wife Theresa Laryea. They live in Arkansas, U.S.A.