Each year, AOSSM recognizes a society member who personifies the highest qualities of leadership. And though there has been a time-honored annual tradition to this presentation, well, life with all its personal and global challenges does not always respect that perfect rhythm. And yet, in spite of scheduling conflicts, personal obstacles, meeting cancellations, and a global pandemic, it remains my distinct pleasure to now finally present the 2019 Robert E. Leach MD Sports Medicine Leadership Award. But as we begin, we must reflect on the inspiration for this award. Bob Leach, who so many of us know, has himself personified the highest leadership qualities. Renowned professor, researcher, academician, iconic surgeon and clinician, a storied team physician, a founding member of this society who served as our 12th president and the second editor-in-chief for the American Journal of Sports Medicine. He is most certainly a true renaissance man whose leadership has helped shape our great society. And each year, this award, in his name, is bestowed upon that AOSSM member who has provided the most outstanding service and the highest contributions to the field of sports medicine. Our 2019 recipient most certainly embodies all those characteristics. Born in El Paso, Texas, on December 8, 1954, as the first of five children into a true military family, which resulted in a keen preparedness and cultivated these certain nomadic skills, as you see here in terms of self-defense, displayed with his bow and arrow, but always prepared for life's challenges. But being from a military family, he quickly grew used to migrating. With grade school years spent in upstate New York, freshman and sophomore high school in Germany, only to return to the U.S. and graduate from Allegheny High School. His college was spent at St. Bonaventure University, where he participated in a variety of sports, but also notably followed in his father's footsteps by joining the ROTC. From there, he attended Georgetown Medical School on an ROTC scholarship, spending his internship year at Madigan Army Medical Center. But arguably, the most important event of his life occurred on August 6, 1977, when he married his beautiful wife, Kathy. But a military life often dictates movement. And so off to Bremerhaven, Germany, for two years, where their daughter Christina was born. They then returned to Fort Lewis to finish his residency, where his son Michael was born, followed then by a sports fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. John Fagan in Wyoming. But with that, his formal orthopedic training was complete. And then on to his early practice, and so the West Point years began. He and Kathy lived there for 13 years, enjoying a truly great life filled with family, friends, and Army sporting events, steeped in the tradition and the history of the military academy. All while nurturing and cultivating an outstanding clinical, academic, and research career. He served as chief of orthopedics and the director of the U.S. Army's Bone and Soft Tissue Trauma Fellowship. In his spare time, he also participated in the AOSSM Traveling Fellowship and as physician to the U.S. Olympic hockey team. As a colonel, he served two tours of duty, including Operation Desert Storm and Shield in Saudi Arabia and Iraq in 1990 and 91, for which he received the Bronze Star. But beyond all that, most notably, it was during this time that their third child, Laura, was born in 1988, and then their fourth child, their son Jonathan, in 1996. All these were truly impactful life events. But in 2000, his second career began at a little northeastern university in Storrs, Connecticut. And shortly after, his fifth child, Matt, was born. But also during this time, he nurtured and cultivated a great sports medicine program as an outstanding clinician, surgeon, researcher, and educator, a professor of orthopedics, the director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship, and team physician, who in his spare time has medically guided a litany of gifted collegiate athletes to one national championship after another. And yet, he always found time to mentor his younger partners on clinical diagnosis, surgical technique, and of course, one of his passions, as you see here, bull riding. But our recipient is also, like Bob Leach, a true Renaissance man. He loves fishing, swimming, craft beers, and as you see here in the middle, often all at the same time. But he is also passionate about music, playing each and every one of his seven guitars. And in fact, you see him here on the far right, practicing with one of his many band members. Yes, a true Renaissance man with a passion for so many things in life, but certainly with a decades-long passion for AOSSM. He has been involved in virtually every aspect of this great society, as an educator, as a researcher, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous awards, such as the O'Donohue Award, the Houston Award, the Kaspari Award, the Trillat Award, and the Revere Award. He's participated on numerous committees, our Board of Directors, our Medical Publishing Board of Trustees, and as the 43rd President of AOSSM. But his true passion in life, well, it's his family. He enjoys each and every moment as he can with his entire family, from dinners to trips to reunions. But most certainly, our recipient loves each and every one of his six grandchildren. Each of them bringing great joy to both him and his wife, Kathy. And so you see that our recipient, he embodies all the clinical, the surgical, the academic, and the personal qualities that we aspire to. And so it is with great pleasure that I present the 2019 Robert E. Leach Award to Bob Arciero. And in a most fitting way, in this city of music, he receives this award to his very own music. I don't know what to say. Thank you. I can't believe my wife kept this a secret for two years. Do we live in the same house? I think we do. Anyway, thank you all. Thanks Mike, all my colleagues, all my friends. What do they say? In giving, you get a whole lot back. I've gotten way more back than I gave. Thank you.

2019 Robert E. Leach MD Sports Medicine Leadership Award

AOSSM member

outstanding service

contributions

sports medicine