Tayeb Sabir Kareem was a professor of general surgery at Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan. He was born in 1964 in Shaqlawa, Erbil city, Kurdistan region, Iraq and graduated from the college of medicine, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad in 1986. He worked in different hospitals in the region and gained his postgraduate degree in general surgery from the Iraqi board in 1996. He worked for many years at the college of medicine, Hawler Medical University and worked passionately and tirelessly throughout his life to support and develop the field of surgery and scientific research in Iraq and the Kurdistan region. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He supervised many postgraduate students and contributed to preparing many academicians in the field of surgery. His contribution to surgical work and research was outstanding: he researched many important topics and published in international and highly respected journals. His academic work and scholarship focused on general surgery with a special interest in the gastrointestinal tract, using a wide variety of new operative techniques. He made small but important contributions to this field, publishing many peer-reviewed papers, and travelled to present his work at academic conferences. As a graduate student and professor, he mentored numerous students who went on to successful academic careers of their own. He was resilient, a hard worker, with a giving, caring and selfless soul. He shared his passion for his work through mentoring others and would do anything for anyone. Tayeb Sabir Kareem died unexpectedly on 6 April 2021 at hospital in Erbil city from complications of Covid-19. His family and friends were deeply saddened and shocked by his sudden death.