Kappa Delta's partnership with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) evolved out of its work with Children's Hospital in Richmond, Va. After getting to know children with crippling diseases, Kappa Deltas wanted to make a difference not only in treatment, but in prevention.
In 1947, the sorority established the Kappa Delta Research Fellowship in Orthopedy (now known as the Kappa Delta Orthopaedic Research Awards). Starting with a $1,000 contribution in 1950, Kappa Delta now presents three $20,000 awards annually to leading orthopaedic researchers, for a total of over $1.1 million since the partnership began.
Often referred to as the Nobel Prize of orthopaedic research, the Kappa Delta Orthopaedic Research Awards have gone to researchers who have made key discoveries pertaining to bone grafting, treatment of polio, surgical correction of scoliosis, knee replacement, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, arthorscopic surgery--in short, most of the leading orthopaedic advancements of the past 60 years.