White, Augustus A.

Augustus A. White III, 1936- , BA, 1957, Brown University; MD, 1961, Stanford University; PhD, 1970, Karolinska Institute, orthopedic surgeon, was named Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School in 1978, and was Ellen and Melvin Gordon Professor of Medical Education at Harvard Medical School in 2001. White served as Orthopedic Surgeon-in-Chief at Beth Israel Hospital (later Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) in Boston, Mass. from 1978 to 1991, and directed the Daniel E. Hogan Spine Fellowship Program at Beth Israel Hospital from 1983 to 2003. White's research focused on biomechanics of the spine, fracture healing, and the surgical and non-surgical care of the spine.

Prominent orthopedic surgeon Dr. Augustus A. White III was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of a doctor and a librarian. After attending segregated schools in Memphis, White graduated from the private Mount Herman School in Northfield, Massachusetts, in 1953. White completed his pre-medical studies at Brown University in 1957, and in 1961 was the first African American graduate of the Stanford University School of Medicine. Receiving his Ph.D. degree in orthopedic biomechanics at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, White became the first African American surgical resident at the Yale-New Haven Hospital; he also served in Vietnam as a captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, earning a Bronze Star.

Specializing in care of the spine, White worked at Harvard Medical School as a professor of orthopedic surgery, and as the Ellen and Melvin Gordon Professor of Medical Education. For thirteen years, White served as chief of the orthopedic surgery department at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston; he also founded the academic orthopedic program at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

A noted author in his medical specialty, White co-wrote (with Dr. Manohar M. Panjabi)Clinical Biomechanics of the SpineandBiomechanics of the Musculoskeletal System. White also wroteYour Aching Back: A Doctor's Guide to Relief;Back Care;Advances in Spinal Fusion: Molecular Science, Biomechanics and Clinical Management; andClinical Biometrics of the Spine, a standard reference book for orthopedists. In 2006, White was awarded the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Diversity Award for his life's work, and his contributions to his field.

White met his wife, Anita, during his Ph.D. studies at the Karolinska Institute; the couple had three daughters.