Alaska orthopaedic surgeon Elisha “Eli” T. Powell IV, MD, FAAOS, has been named a member-at-large of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ (AAOS) Board of Directors. He assumed the role following the AAOS 2026 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

Dr. Powell has been deeply involved in AAOS leadership, serving as Alaska’s Board of Councilors (BoC) representative for the last six years. In his BoC role, he also chaired the BoC Advocacy Resource Committee. Additionally, he served on the Data Safety Monitoring Board for the Major Extremity Trauma Research Consortium (METRC) since its inception.

A distinguished veteran of the U.S. Air Force, Dr. Powell was chief of orthopaedics at the U.S. Air Force Academy and served as head team physician and chief of sports medicine for the Academy’s NCAA Division I athletics program. He later deployed to Iraq, where he commanded the largest hospital in the region and received the Bronze Star. In addition, he served as president of the Society of Military Orthopaedic Surgeons and completed his military career as hospital commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, where the hospital was twice selected as the best in the Air Force.

Dr. Powell has held leadership roles in organized medicine, including as president of the Alaska State Medical Association and chief of the medical staff at Providence Alaska Medical Center. He has authored numerous publications in orthopaedic literature and has served as a physician for the U.S. Men’s National Alpine Ski Team. In 2017, he received the J. Leland Sosman Award for outstanding medical coverage and service to the U.S. Ski Team.

Dr. Powell specializes in sports medicine, with decades of experience caring for professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes. He is president of Orthopedic Physicians Alaska, the largest provider of musculoskeletal care in the state. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Dr. Powell earned his medical degree from the University of Florida and completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Washington.