In the late 1940s, the biology of bone healing had not been scientifically investigated and knowledge was sparse.
The book 'Théorie et Pratique de l'Ostéosynthèse' by a Belgian surgeon, Robert Danis, was published in 1949, and attracted the attention of a young, innovative Swiss surgeon, Maurice E Müller.
Maurice E Müller visited Danis in March 1950 and gathered a small group of Swiss surgeons—Robert Schneider, Hans Willenegger, Martin Allgöwer, and Walter Bandi—who shared his interests in research in bone healing.
On November 6, 1958 the AO Foundation was established at the Hotel Elite in Biel, by a group of Swiss surgeons—Maurice E Müller, Robert Schneider, Hans Willenegger, Martin Allgöwer (pictured 2nd from left), and Walter Bandi—who came together to champion revolutionary techniques of internal fixation that achieved unprecedented results in healing bone fractures.
The first undertaking of the AO founders—Maurice E Müller, Robert Schneider, Hans Willenegger, Martin Allgöwer, and Walter Bandi—was to find a suitable place to conduct research. Davos was selected as the location and the previous tuberculosis facility run by Alexander Spengler in Villa Fontana was identified as the ideal place for the newly established Laboratory for Experimental Surgery (LECD, Labor für experimentelle Chirurgie Davos). Allgöwer was its first director. Each of the AO founders made significant financial contributions towards the start-up costs for the AO's first research facility, known since June 1992 as the AO Research Institute Davos (ARI).
The Charter of the AO Foundation is signed in Davos, Switzerland, formally establishing the AO as an international organization with Martin Allgöwer as its first president.
The AO's headquarters, known as the AO Center, opens in Davos, Switzerland.
The Clinical Priority Program (CPP) Fracture Fixation in Osteoporotic Bone (FFOB) got underway.
AO Surgery Reference is an online resource for the management of fractures, based on current clinical principles, practices, and available evidence. It describes the complete surgical management process from diagnosis to aftercare for fractures in a given anatomical region, and also assembles relevant published AO material.
The AO celebrated its 50th anniversary and the AO Foundation Board of Directors created AO Trauma as the main pillar of the AO Foundation.
