Born in 1929, Hakim Abdel Malak Samaan studied medicine in London, qualifying MB, BS from Guy's Hospital in 1958. He became surgical registrar in the thoracic unit of the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh and passed the FRCS Ed in 1962. Moving to London he held appointments at the Prince of Wales' Hospital, the London Chest Hospital and the Bedford General Hospital and became a Fellow of the College in 1964. In the late 1970s he moved to Houston, Texas, and became a lecturer at the Hermann Hospital. He also practised at the Memorial Hospital and the Houston North West Medical Center. He was a member of the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association, the Society for Thoracic Surgery and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. He died on 16 December 1984.