As a well-respected educator and innovative surgeon, Dr. Robert W. Gaines has spent more than four decades practicing medicine in Columbia, MO, first at the University of Missouri, where he was a long-time valued member of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, and later with the Columbia Orthopaedic Group. Throughout a career dedicated to surgery and teaching, Dr. Gaines' passion for research and education is undeniable. We are thrilled to announce that Dr. and Mrs. Gaines are creating and endowment to benefit our Division of Spine Surgery. The focus of the Robert W. Gaines, Jr., MD Fund for Excellence in Spine Surgery will be to provide education and research funding toward eliminating spinal diseases from human existence, and optimizing human spinal health and performance. To honor his longtime tenure and commitment to the profession, we are organizing an effort to support this new endowment.