James Oliver Johnston and his wife, Marybee

Anyone with a passing knowledge of the "Star Wars" films can tell you that Yoda is one of the greatest Jedi knights – not only for his powers as a Jedi, but for his incredible abilities as a teacher. So it was with great pride that James O. Johnston, MD, professor emeritus in the UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, accepted the moniker Dr. Yoda, granted by his orthopaedic surgery residents. Now, through generous philanthropy, Dr. Yoda is supporting others who wish to teach.

Johnston began teaching at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, helping orthopaedic surgery residents prepare for their board exams. Word trickled across the San Francisco Bay to the residents at UCSF, who began attending his review courses. His popularity as a teacher led to a part-time appointment at UCSF in the mid 1960s and he joined the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery full time in 1988.

Although Johnston has received great acclaim for his clinical and research activities (along with Richard J. O'Donnell, MD, he pioneered the compressive osseointegration technique), teaching is his great passion. Since 1967, UCSF's medical residents have awarded him the Orthopaedic Teaching Cup four times. Three years ago, Johnston made a generous gift to endow the Cup, now called the "JOJ" Teaching Award.

Johnston and his wife, Marybee, recently gave another exceptional gift to fund an endowed chair. The James O. Johnston Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery, once completely funded, will be used to support a junior faculty member who has an interest in research and teaching. Johnston has stipulated that the recipient be someone who has demonstrated teaching excellence by receiving awards such as the "JOJ" Teaching Award.

When asked about his motivation for giving, Johnston points out that faculty with special talents for teaching are not financially rewarded as well as their counterparts in private practice. He wants to ensure that those who want to teach can do so without sacrificing their careers or families in order to maintain financial stability.

Johnston continues to teach surgeons through his collection of unusual orthopaedic pathology images. This library of more than 6,000 radiology images relating to ortho–oncology is available for free on the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery's website. This unique tool offers important insights into unusual tumors of the extremities.

While his philanthropy stems from altruism, Johnston will be the first to admit that he also enjoys the reduced tax liability. Ultimately, it comes back to a love of teaching and the sense of satisfaction and camaraderie that he feels when teaching residents. Dr. Yoda, indeed.