Arthur L. Day MD was born in Boston but raised in a small town in Louisiana. He graduated from Louisiana State University Medical School in New Orleans in 1972, and completed his neurological surgery residency training at the University of Florida (UF) in 1977.
Following a fellowship in brain tumor immunology, he joined the UF neurosurgery faculty in 1978, where he ultimately became a professor and the Eblen Eminent Scholar in Cerebrovascular Surgery; he also served as the Co-Chairman and Residency Program Director. While there, his clinical research interests centered principally on cerebrovascular diseases and sports medicine, while his basic research activities focused on cerebral ischemia and neural protection, particularly as affected by estrogens.
In 2002, Dr. Day moved to Boston where he was appointed a Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Associate Chairman and Residency Program Director of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). He also served as an attending staff physician at BWH and a consulting physician at Children’s Hospital Boston. From 2007 – 2010, he was the Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery of the Brigham and Women’s/Children’s Hospitals Boston.
In July 2010, Dr. Day moved to Houston to assume his current position as Professor, Co-Chairman, and Program Director of the residency training program for the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Texas Medical School at Houston. He is also the Director of Clinical Education at the Mischer Neuroscience Institute.
Dr. Day has served as President of the Alachua County Medical Society and the Florida Neurosurgical Society. He has chaired the Joint Section of Cerebrovascular Surgery of the AANS/CNS and the Sports Medicine Section of the AANS. He was treasurer and President of the CNS, chaired the AANS/CNS Washington Committee, and served as the Treasurer and Vice-President of the AANS. He was a member and then Chairman of the American Board of Neurological Surgery, a member of the Residency Review Committee for neurosurgery, and was Treasurer and President of the Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS). He served as Chairman of the CAST Committee for the SNS from 2013 – 2019. He has published nearly 200 journal articles and book chapters, and co-edited two books on neurological sports injuries. He is the recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Neurosurgical Society of America (NSA), the Founders Laurel Award from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), the Harvey Cushing Medal from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), and the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Neurological Surgeons.