Jacquelin Perry Dies At 94

Dr. Jacquelin Perry died Monday at her home in Downey. She was 94. Her death was announced by Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, with which she had been affiliated since 1955.

Considered the world authority on gait analysis, Dr. Perry had been honored throughout her illustrious 50-year career with a multitude of awards and recognitions for her distinguishing contributions to patients and the field of orthopaedic surgery. She always had a passion for improving the function of her patients. This was undoubtedly influenced by her early career as a physical therapist and then as an orthopaedic resident exposed to pioneering gait research being conducted in the Biomechanics Laboratory at UC San Francisco in the late 1940s and 1950s under the direction of Dr. Verne Inman.

Among the highlights of her credits are:

– Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 by the Gait and Clinical Movement Society;
– A tribute article on Jacquelin Perry, M.D. in the Los Angles Times health section in 1999;
– A Tribute to Jacquelin Perry, M.D. in 1999 at the 15th Biannual Alfred R. Shands Jr., Lecture of the Orthopaedic Research Society;
– Building dedication, the Jacquelin Perry Neuro-Trauma Institute and Rehabilitation Center at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (1996), one of the nation’s most advanced rehabilitation patient care buildings;
– Physician of the Year in 1994 by the State of California – California’s Governor’s Committee;
– UCLA Professional Achievement Award in 1988 by the University of California, Los Angeles;
– President’s Award in 1984 by the California Association of Rehabilitative Facilities;
– Distinguished Service Award in 1981 by the California Association of Rehabilitative Facilities;
– Isabelle and Leonard H. Goldenson Award in Technology in 1981 by the United Cerebral Palsy Research and Educational Foundation;
– Kappa Delta Award by the Orthopaedic Research Society in 1976;
– Woman of the Year for Medicine in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times in 1959.

She has received numerous visiting professorships including: Distinguished Lecturer for the Hospital for Special Surgery and the Cornell University Medical College, the University of Wisconsin Hospitals, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, the Charles R. Moore Lectureship at Baylor University, the University of Iowa, Mayo Clinic, the 19th Congress of the Japanese Society of Rehabilitation Medicine in Tokyo Japan, etc.