Dr. Timothy N. Taft has been inducted into the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) Hall of Fame during a ceremony at its Annual Meeting in Seattle earlier this month, according to a release from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.
AOSSM Hall of Famers are individuals in the sports medicine community who have contributed immensely and set themselves apart from others in the field.
Dr. Taft has also been active with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, serving on its Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and he has been honored previously for his service by the NCHSAA with a Distinguished Service Award.
Dr. Taft was the long-time Max Novich Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedics and Director of Sports Medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill (UNC). He attended Princeton University and the University of Missouri, School of Medicine. He completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of North Carolina, where he then joined the faculty.
In the early 1970's, he helped organize and develop the formal sports medicine program at UNC. This program was unique in that it was based on a medical model with the physicians, athletic trainers, physical therapists and nutritionists being part of the university health care system rather than being directly employed by the department of athletics. In addition to being the team physician and orthopaedic surgeon for UNC, Dr. Taft has been the team, head physician or medical director for more than 40 US teams at international competitions including the Pan American Games, the Olympics and the World Basketball Championships.
Dr. Taft has also held many national leadership positions in sports medicine and orthopaedics. He has served on the Board of Directors for the AOSSM, the Medical Advisory Committee for the USOC and has often been an examiner for the ABOS. He currently serves as the North American representative to the Global Medical Advisory Committee for Special Olympics International. Dr. Taft has been honored as a Distinguished Eagle Scout by the Boy Scouts of America and has been recognized as a "Priceless Gem" by the UNC Department of Athletics.
He has received Distinguished Service Awards from the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, the University of Missouri and the University of North Carolina. He has also won several teaching awards at UNC.