Read more about past Smith Day Lecturers and their contributions to the the field of hand surgery.
Dr. Leonard Gordon
2012 Richard J. Smith Memorial Lecturer:
Leonard Gordon, MD
Leonard Gordon MD is our 23rd annual Richard J. Smith orator. Dr. Gordon’s career has exemplified all of the teachings of Dr. Smith and a most fitting individual to give his Eponymous Lecture.
Dr. Gordon was born and raised in South Africa, receiving his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersand Medical School in Johannesburg in 1971. Of note, an expert tennis player, he was a member of the South African Davis Cup team. Dr. Gordon split his surgical internship between Johannesburg General Hospital and the University of Connecticut. He then traveled to California where he completed both surgical and Orthopaedic training at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) in 1979, which also included a one year microsurgical Fellowship. Dr. Gordon next became a Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital under Dr. Smith from 1980-81 and was encouraged by Dr. Smith to join the Faculty due to his exemplary surgical skills.
California was too enticing and Dr. Gordon returned to head the Hand and Microsurgical Service at UCSF until 1992 when he moved to the California Pacific Medical Center as Chief of the Hand Surgery Service. Although he remained an Associate Clinical Professor at UCSF in both the Orthopaedic and Anatomy Departments. Dr. Gordon has received numerous teaching awards and remains active in both the Orthopaedic Residency Program and Department of Anatomy at UCSF. He is an active member of numerous national and international medical and surgical societies.
Dr. Gordon has given more than 700 local, national and international presentations, authored two textbooks, published 70 peer review papers, and 16 book chapters. Currently, along with a busy hand and upper extremity practice, Dr. Gordon has devoted his interest and clinical research into the management of flexor tendon injuries.
Dr. Gordon is a devoted husband to Chandra and father of four children. Needless to say, he remains an outstanding tennis player.
Dr. James Herndon
2011 Richard J. Smith Memorial Lecturer:
James Herndon, MD
Dr. James H. Herndon is the William H. and Johanna A. Harris Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Herndon completed his undergraduate education at Loyola University of Los Angeles and medical school at UCLA. In 1965, he came to the East Coast for his surgical internship and an additional year of surgical residency at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Herndon came to Boston in 1967 and completed the combined Harvard orthopaedic residency in 1970, followed by a two-year military commitment as a major in the U.S. Army, stationed at the Valley Forge General Hospital. Dr. Herndon’s interest in hand surgery was further enhanced during this time and led to his completion of a hand surgery fellowship under J. William Littler in NYC in 1974. From 1974 until 1978, Jim went into private practice as an associate of Dr. Alfred Swanson in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In 1978 Dr. Herndon began his leadership career in Orthopaedic Surgery coming to Brown University as Chairman of Orthopaedics. In 1988 he was named the David Silver Professor and Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh, a position he maintained until 1998, when he came back to Boston and the Harvard orthopaedic program as the Partners Healthcare Professor of Orthoapedic Surgery and Program Director of the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency Program.
Dr. Herndonserves on the Board of Trustees of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (past Chairman) and has been President of the American Orthopaedic Association, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Academic Orthopaedic Society. He was also the Chairman of the Orthopaedic Residency Review Committee and the Committee for the Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hand Surgery.
Dr. Herndon has given many named lectures and has received honorary degrees from Brown University, Harvard Medical School and Loyola-Marymount University. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons and an Honorary Member of the Brazilian Orthopaedic and Trauma Society, the Greek Orthopaedic Association, the Romanian Hand Society and the Greek Hand Society.
Dr. Herndon has been the principal investigator or co-investigator on more than 30 orthopaedic research grants and has published over 200 papers and abstracts, several books and 24 chapters. For the last several years, he has focused his writings and lectures on medical errors and patient safety. He is currently writing a book on the history of orthopaedic surgery at Harvard Medical School.
