2026 AOA Award Winners
Each year, AOA members select two renowned peers for special recognition. Congratulations to our 2026 winners!
Terry R. Light, MD, FAOA
Distinguished Clinician Educator Award Recipient
Joshua J. Jacobs, MD, FAOA
Distinguished Contributions to Orthopaedics Award Recipient
About the 2026 Award Winners
Terry R. Light, MD, FAOA, is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Loyola University Chicago
Stritch School of Medicine. He is an attending surgeon at the Shriners Hospital for Children –
Chicago Unit. His hand surgery practice has focused on congenital and acquired hand disorders in
children.
Dr. Light received a BA from Yale University and an MD from The Chicago Medical School. He
completed a surgery internship and an orthopaedic surgery residency at Yale-New Haven Medical
Center and a hand fellowship at Hartford Hospital. Dr Light served as the Dr. William M. Scholl
Chairman of the Loyola Departmental of Orthopaedic Surgery for 25 years and as Interim Dean of the Loyola Stritch School of Medicine.
He is past president of the American Orthopaedic Association, American Society of Surgery of the Hand, the Academic Orthopaedic Society, the Illinois Orthopaedic Society, and the Chicago Society for Surgery of the Hand. He served as chair of the America Foundation for Surgery of the Hand and as the treasurer of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery Board of Trustees.
He is the recipient of the Carl Heinz Award from Yale University School of Medicine, the Nicholas Andry award from the Association of Bone and Joint Surgery and the distinguished alumnus award of the Chicago Medical School. He has received the Sofield – Seabury Fellowship and the Stritch medal of Loyola University.
Dr Light’s overseas volunteer activity was recognized with the Cross of the Knight Medal of Merit “For Services to Lithuania” and the Ho Chi Minh City Medal for service to the people of Vietnam. In 2023 he received the George HW Bush ’48 Leadership Award from Yale University.
He is volunteer docent leading tours of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park, Illinois Home and Studio and Chicago Architecture Center boat tours along the Chicago River.
Joshua J. Jacobs, MD received a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University and graduated from the University of Illinois Medical School. Dr. Jacobs completed his residency at the Combined Harvard Orthopaedic Residency Program followed by a fellowship in Adult Reconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery at Rush University Medical Center under the direction of Dr. Jorge Galante. Dr. Jacobs has remained at Rush since his fellowship training and served as the William A. Hark, MD/Susanne G. Swift Professor and Chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery for 16 years. He also served as the Vice Provost for Research at Rush University. He currently is the Grainger Director of the Rush Arthritis and Orthopaedics Institute.
Dr. Jacobs has published over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts, most of which focus on the biological consequences of material degradation from joint replacement implants. He is a Multiple Principal Investigator on the University of Chicago/Rush University Clinical and Translational Science Award from NCATS/NIH. Dr. Jacobs has received several awards for his research and leadership including the Otto Aufranc Award from The Hip Society, the Ann Doner Vaughan Kappa Delta Award from the AAOS, the Mark Coventry Award from the Knee Society, the ORS/OREF Distinguished Investigator Award, the William W. Tipton, Jr., MD, Leadership Award from the AAOS and the Nicolas Andry Lifetime Achievement Award from the ABJS.
Dr. Jacobs is a Past President of the AAOS, ORS, the United States Bone and Joint
Decade/Initiative, and The Hip Society. He served as a Director of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and is a Past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Dr. Jacobs currently serves as the President of the Board of
Trustees of the OREF.
View the AOA Award Winners Hall of Fame. Learn more about the Awards criteria, including how to submit a nomination.