May 8, 2019

James Rutka receives Cushing Medal from American Association of Neurological Surgeons

Dr. Rutka receiving the Cushing Medal.

Dr James Rutka, RS McLaughlin Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery, received the Cushing Medal from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), on Tuesday April 16th, at its Annual Meeting in San Diego.

The Cushing Medal, named after Dr Harvey Cushing, the founder of neurosurgery as a specialty within surgery in 1919, is the highest honor that the AANS can bestow on a member.  Given annually since 1976, the award recognizes an AANS member for distinguished service and outstanding contributions to and accomplishments in neurosurgery.

Dr Rutka is only the second Canadian to receive the Cushing Medal in its history.  In his acceptance speech, Dr Rutka thanked the staff of the AANS, his colleagues on the AANS Executive Committee, the Editorial Staff of the Journal of Neurosurgery, of which Dr Rutka is Editor-in-Chief, and his family.  When asked about the importance of the award, Dr Rutka said: “Receiving the Cushing Medal from the AANS is one of the greatest honours of my professional career, as it is an organization in which I have worked hard to make a difference these past 30 years”. 

Founded in 1931 as the Harvey Cushing Society, the AANS is a scientific and educational association with more than 8,000 members worldwide. The AANS is dedicated to advancing the specialty of neurological surgery to provide the highest quality of neurosurgical care to patients.