Past President of ASES: 1992-1993
The second son of pioneering shoulder surgeon Dr. Julius S. Neviaser, Dr. Robert Jon Neviaser was born in Washington, D.C. After graduating from Princeton University and Jefferson Medical College, he completed a surgical internship and a year of General Surgery at the New York Hospital-Cornell University Medical Center and an Orthopaedic Surgery residency at the New York Orthopaedic Hospital of the Columbia University-Presbyterian Medical Center, both in New York City.
Dr. Neviaser then entered the Navy and served with the Third Medical Battalion of the Third Marine Division in Viet Nam during that conflict. After discharge, he eventually joined in the Orthopaedic Department of the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., where he spent 46 years as Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, 28 of which were as Chairman of the Department. Under his tutelage the program was the leader and pioneer in training women Orthopaedic Surgeons, had the highest percentage of graduates in academic Orthopaedics, had three Kappa Delta Award recipients, produced three departmental Chairs (including the first woman to chair an Orthopaedic Department), as well as Presidents of the American Orthopaedic Association, the Eastern Orthopaedic Association, the Cervical Spine Research Society, and the secretary of the Orthopaedic Research Society. He is currently Professor Emeritus. He now consults on shoulder patients and lectures to Orthopaedic residents at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
He has over 140 publications, with five books, and numerous book chapters. He has over 400 national and international presentations and has been a Visiting Professor or Presidential Guest speaker at over 70 universities and international shoulder societies on every continent. He was President of the Western Trauma Association and of the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons. He was North American Editor of the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery for five years, served as Editor-in-Chief of the JSES for twelve years, and is currently Editor Emeritus.
Among the honors that Dr. Neviaser has received are election to the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, the Unsung Hero Award from the Lacrosse Foundation, the Distinguished Alumnus Award of the New York Orthopaedic Hospital, the First Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for Dedication to Orthopaedic Education from the Mid-Atlantic Shoulder, Pioneer in Shoulder and Elbow Surgery by the International Board of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, and the Distinguished Clinician Educator Award from the American Orthopaedic Association.