Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, FAAOS, awarded 2021 William W. Tipton Jr., MD, Leadership Award
The American Academy of Orthopeadic Surgeons awarded Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD, FAAOS, with the 2021 William W. Tipton Jr., MD, Leadership Award, according to a press release.
The award is presented to AAOS members who have benefitted the American public, the orthopedic community and its patients, and is named after the late orthopedic surgeon and former AAOS CEO William W. Tipton Jr., MD.
“I cannot think of a better person to personify the qualities of a Tipton Leadership Award winner,” Kenneth A. Egol, MD, FAAOS, of NYU Langone Health, said in the release. “[Zuckerman] is academically, administratively, clinically, and personally an exemplary leader in everything he does.”
After earning his medical degree from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Zuckerman completed his residency at University of Washington Medical Center and a fellowship in reconstructive surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He has since served as an ambassador of American orthopedic surgery through the American Orthopaedic Association’s North American Traveling Fellowship and the American-British-Canadian Traveling Fellowship.
According to the press release, in addition to his work in orthopedics, Zuckerman is known for prioritizing the promotion of diversity in the specialty as a faculty champion to the NYU School of Medicine LGBT Society, and by implementing the use of AAOS cultural competency training materials for faculty and trainees at NYU, as well as establishing a diversity committee within orthopedic surgery.
“While Dr. Zuckerman is perhaps one of the most accomplished and influential orthopedic surgeons in the United States, his most impressive accomplishment, in my opinion, is how he's utilized his platform to advance diversity and inclusion in the field of orthopedic surgery,” Julius K. Oni, MD, FAAOS, of John Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in the release. “I don’t think there are enough words to truly express the impact he’s had on me and so many others.”
Zuckerman is chair of the department of orthopaedic surgery at NYU Langone Health, where he oversees day-to-day operations including orthopedic surgery, rheumatology and rehabilitation, as well as a group of nearly 200 orthopedic surgeons.
“Bill was a special man who was always positive, constructive, and trying to push the agenda forward,” Zuckerman said in the press release. “To be recognized with this award by the AAOS, an organization I have so much respect and admiration for, is an honor.”