04.02.14
A new era is underway at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS).
Academy members installed a new set of officers during their annual meeting in New Orleans, La., choosing clinician, educator and NBA team physician Frederick M. Azar, M.D., as their president, David D. Teuscher, M.D., as first vice president, and Gerald R. Williams Jr., M.D., as second vice president. The trio will serve one-year terms.
Azar is chief of staff of the Campbell Clinic as well as a professor and director of the sports medicine fellowship program for the University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Previously he served as director of the department’s residency program for 10 years. Azar is a member of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, the Arthroscopy Association of North America, and the American Orthopaedic Association, along with many other national and international groups. He also serves as team physician for the NBA Memphis Grizzlies, as well as the University of Memphis and Christian Brothers University sport teams.
“Orthopedics, just like all of medicine and health care, is in the middle of a paradigm shift,” Azar said. “As president of an organization that serves nearly 38,000 members, I see this shift as an opportunity and I promise to work tirelessly on our members’ behalf to refine new programs, products and services in education, advocacy, practice management, quality, research and communications to help them deliver the highest-quality care to their patients... I look forward to what the future holds.”
Azar has served in volunteer orthopedic leadership positions for more than 20 years. Before being elected to the Academy presidential line, he served AAOS as treasurer. He graduated from the inaugural AAOS Leadership Fellows Program in 2003 and is the first alumni of the program to become president of the Academy.
Azar earned his medical degree at Tulane University of Medicine in New Orleans, completed an internship at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Missouri, a residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Tennessee-Campbell Clinic in Memphis, and a fellowship in sports medicine at the American Sports Medicine Institute in Birmingham, Ala. He also is the author or co-author of numerous peer-reviewed journals, a large number of book chapters in authoritative textbooks and has been director or co-director of numerous continuing medical education courses in sports medicine.
“Fred is a natural born leader and this has been particularly evident in his many contributions to the Academy, his local community, his commitment to the physicians at the Campbell Clinic, and the list goes on and on,” outgoing AAOS President Joshua Jacobs, M.D., said. “And, he does all of these things with thoroughness, thoughtfulness and excellence. We are indeed fortunate to have someone of his caliber lead our organization into the future.”
Azar is an active participant in a number of community philanthropic organizations and serves on the ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Hospital board. He also was part of the 2010 Haiti disaster relief team.
Teuscher is a partner and past president of the Beaumont Bone & Joint Institute in Beaumont, Texas. He also serves as a team physician for Lamar University’s NCAA athletic teams. After earning his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School in San Antonio, Texas, Teuscher completed an internship and residency at the Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio, Texas. He served in U.S. Army operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and completed 13 years of military service as the chief of surgery at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.
Williams is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon specializing in shoulder treatment. He practices at the Rothman Institute at Jefferson in Philadelphia, Pa., where he is chief of the division of shoulder and elbow surgery. Williams has served in various faculty positions since 1990 and currently is the John M. Fenlin, Jr., M.D., Professor of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery at Jefferson Medical College. Williams earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Ursinus College, in Collegeville, Pa., and his medical degree from Temple University in Philadelphia. Williams previously served in several volunteer leadership roles at the AAOS. Active in more than a dozen professional societies and councils, Williams has served as the president of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons and has been a member of the Philadelphia Orthopaedic Society (president from 2002), the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society (president 2009), and the Mid-Atlantic Shoulder and Elbow Society (co-founder and president 2012-2014).
Other officers elected include John J. McGraw Sr., M.D., board of councilors chair; David C. Templeman, M.D., board of specialty societies chair; Alan S. Hilibrand, M.D., AAOS Communications Cabinet chair; Evan L. Flatow, M.D., AAOS Education Council chair; Ken Yamaguchi, M.D., treasurer; Raj Rao, M.D., and Jennifer Weiss, M.D., board of directors members at large.