Dan M. Spengler, MD receives honorary Doctor of Science degree from Baldwin-Wallace College

Dan M. Spengler, MD
Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation
and Chair of the Department

Dan M. Spengler earned the bachelor of science degree with honors in chemistry from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1962. He received his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Michigan in 1966. He then served a one-year
internship at King County Hospital (now Harborview Medical Center) in Seattle before returning to the University of Michigan for an assistant resident position.

Beginning in 1968, he served two years in the United States Air Force, after
which he finished his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the University of
Michigan. He then completed a fellowship in orthopaedic biomechanics at Case
Western Reserve University.

Dr. Spengler’s first faculty position was as an assistant professor of orthopaedic
surgery at the University of Washington. He rose through the ranks and became a
professor of orthopaedic surgery in 1983. That same year, he was recruited to
become a professor and the chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics and
Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a position he has held
since then.

Among his professional honors are membership in the American Orthopaedic
Association and receipt of the American British Canadian Orthopaedic Exchange
Fellowship, the Volvo Award for Basic Science Research in Spine, the Kappa
Delta Award for Outstanding Orthopaedic Research, and the Cervical Spine
Research Award. He is founding co-editor of the Journal of Spinal Disorders, a former
president and director of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, and a
former president of the American Orthopaedic Association. He currently serves
on the board of trustees of the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation and of the
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. His civic accomplishments include a Bronze Star
for meritorious service presented by the United States Air Force in 1970 and an
honorary Doctor of Science degree from Baldwin-Wallace College, where he
delivered the commencement address in 2008.