Thomas P. Sculco, MD, FAAOS (right), was awarded the 2025 Diversity Award during the AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting for his commitment to promoting diversity in orthopaedics at all levels. Dr. Sculco is pictured with AAOS Past President Paul Tornetta III, MD, PhD, FAAOS.
Published 1/30/2026
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Rebecca Araujo
Thomas P. Sculco, MD, FAAOS (right), was awarded the 2025 Diversity Award during the AAOS 2025 Annual Meeting for his commitment to promoting diversity in orthopaedics at all levels. Dr. Sculco is pictured with AAOS Past President Paul Tornetta III, MD, PhD, FAAOS.
Thomas P. Sculco, MD, FAAOS, surgeon-in-chief emeritus at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) and professor of orthopaedic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York, was honored with the AAOS 2025 Diversity Award in recognition of his outstanding commitment to promoting diversity at the institutional and national levels.
“Receiving the Diversity Award from AAOS is a great honor, and I am truly overwhelmed,” Dr. Sculco shared with AAOS Now. “I have worked throughout my career to improve the environment for underrepresented applicants to orthopaedic residency programs, and HSS is now one of the most diverse residencies in orthopaedic surgery. Increasing diversity in our faculty has also been an important effort and has led to success [in] recruiting more diverse faculty and patients.”
Using his visionary leadership, Dr. Sculco has established infrastructures to enhance diversity among orthopaedic surgeons at all stages of practice. After medical school at Columbia University, an orthopaedic surgery residency at HSS, and service as an orthopaedic surgeon at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, he joined the clinical faculty at Cornell University and staff at HSS. He was appointed director of orthopaedics at HSS in 1993. In that role, he established a pipeline to increase the racial, ethnic, and gender diversity of the orthopaedic trainees at HSS. Between 1993 and 2004, Dr. Sculco oversaw the selection of 14 residents of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and 12 female residents into the HSS orthopaedic residency program, as well as 63 fellows of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and 55 female fellows into orthopaedic fellowship training. Dr. Sculco’s dedication has resulted in HSS training more than 50 residents and 400 fellows from underrepresented groups. Beyond training, he also stewarded orthopaedic surgeons from underrepresented groups into faculty and leadership positions to ensure the pipeline for diversity developed into lasting cultural and institutional change.
“Orthopaedics needs to increase its diversity to strengthen this specialty for the future,” Dr. Sculco emphasized. “Diversity leads to increased creativity and thought and is vital to new ideas and innovative solutions. Monolithic cultures at many levels have always led to stagnation and decline. For orthopaedics to thrive, it must have diversity in its membership and ideas.”
Transformational leadership
Along with his work as a passionate educator and mentor, Dr. Sculco has worked to address healthcare disparities and improve patient care. He is a prolific researcher, having written more than 350 papers, 88 chapters, and three books on orthopaedics and arthritis treatment. His current research interest is focused on improving techniques for total joint reconstruction and preventing hip and knee implant failure. He is the founder and director of the Complex Joint Reconstruction Center at HSS, which aims to provide first-rate diagnosis and treatment for challenging cases and conduct cutting-edge research on the causes, prevention, and treatment of implant failure.
Dr. Sculco has won numerous awards for his groundbreaking research, including the Otto E. Aufranc, MD, and Sir John Charnley, CBE, FRS, awards from the Hip Society for his work with thrombogenesis in total hip replacement; the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arthritis Foundation; the Humes Professorship in Salzburg, Austria; the Gold Medal for Outstanding Achievements in Clinical Medicine from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons; and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class. He is an honorary member of the Hellenic Society of Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology and was the first American to be elected as an honorary member of the Austrian Orthopaedic Society.
Outside of his work at home in New York, Dr. Sculco’s leadership has shaped the entire field of orthopaedic surgery. He has served as a founding member of several organizations, including the International Society of Orthopaedic Centers and the Knee Society. He previously served on the AAOS Board of Directors. Currently, he is on the board of trustees of the Arthritis Foundation and the board of directors of the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation.
Dr. Sculco is also on the board of the J. Robert Gladden Orthopaedic Society (JRGOS), which is a multiracial, multicultural organization focused on promoting and supporting orthopaedic surgeons who are members of underrepresented minority groups. “Working with JRGOS and serving on their board has been amazingly important and has helped mentorship and programmatic changes to improve diversity,” he said. “Susan Stephens, MD, FAAOS, president of JRGOS, is an amazing leader and enthusiastic mentor to me.”
According to Dr. Stephens, an orthopaedic spine surgeon in Cleveland, Ohio, “Dr. Sculco has embodied and lived diversity in orthopaedics. He has trained under his leadership more Black and women orthopaedic surgeons than any other majority training program in the world. The excellence of his trainees speaks for itself in their success by all standards. Dr. Sculco never stops leading by example and continues through his personal mission to impact healthcare disparities by creating an honorable legacy of excellence in diversity in orthopaedic surgery.”
In addition to Dr. Stephens, Dr. Sculco thanked several other mentors and colleagues who helped shape his career and approach to leadership. “Many to thank for their mentorship, but especially Augustus (Gus) White III, MD, PhD, FAAOS, who has been a great friend for over 50 years. I first met Gus as a resident, and his leadership in the area of diversity and his wisdom have been a great inspiration for me,” he said. “Great friends E. Anthony Rankin, MD, FAAOS; Eric W. Carson, MD; Eleby Washington III, MD, FAAOS; and Charles L. Nelson, MD, FAAOS have also been great role models for me.”
Developing the next generation
Enhancing diversity involves more than just recruiting a diverse talent pool — it also requires fostering an inclusive culture where talented orthopaedic surgeons cannot only thrive but also become leaders in their own right. In that regard, Dr. Sculco has been an intentional and dedicated mentor, creating an inclusive culture at all levels of the organization.
Regarding his approach to leadership, he cited the wisdom of Harry Truman: “‘It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.’ I believe in this philosophy fully,” Dr. Sculco said. “My philosophy of empowerment has always been to let younger faculty assume increased responsibility for leadership in key programs. Delegate leadership and recognize accomplishments by younger faculty — this will strengthen their responsibility and leadership and make for a happier faculty. Strong leaders want strong younger faculty around them, and this helps with the excellence of their achievement and their solutions to orthopaedic problems that arise.”
For orthopaedic surgeons — and even trainees — who seek to create systemic change in their institutions or communities, Dr. Sculco emphasized the importance of having strong values. “The best advice I received was always do the right thing and stand by your principles.”
He encouraged current or burgeoning leaders to invest their time and effort in helping to build up their institutions and support their peers. “Be involved in mentorship, leadership programs, and activities that make your program stronger.” Dr. Sculco’s final piece of advice was not to be afraid of being bold when it comes to creating lasting change: “Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion on issues that affect your hospital or program — your suggestion may not be accepted, but your interaction and involvement will be noticed.”
Rebecca Araujo is the former managing editor of AAOS Now.