Samuel Wells is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, where he held the Bixby Professorship of Surgery and served as Chairman of the Department from 1981 to 1998. During his 17-year leadership, he recruited a world-class faculty, prioritized basic and translational research, and emphasized the education of academic surgical leaders, transforming the department into one of the nation's premier institutions. Wells earned his M.D. from Emory University in 1961, completed a surgical residency at Duke University Medical Center, served as a house officer in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University, and trained in the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute and at the Karolinska Institute. Prior to Washington University, he was on the faculty at Duke University. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, American Association for Cancer Research, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Society of Surgical Oncology, American College of Surgeons, International Society of Surgery, and American Society of Clinical Investigation.

Wells pioneered research and clinical advancements in endocrine surgery, particularly multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndromes and medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). He led teams that identified genetic mutations underlying MEN syndromes and, collaborating with Jeffrey Moley, developed prophylactic thyroidectomy as a preventive measure for at-risk patients. His contributions include co-authoring the Revised American Thyroid Association Guidelines for the Management of Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma (2015) and the New England Journal of Medicine publication 'Prophylactic Thyroidectomy in Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2A' (2006). Wells received the Washington University Distinguished Faculty Award in 1987 and served as President of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. He trained numerous endocrine surgeons who ascended to leadership positions in surgical departments and associations nationwide, cementing Washington University's global reputation in treating rare endocrine malignancies.