Helen M. Horstmann
Board Member
Dr. Helen Horstmann has been a pioneer for women in the field of orthopaedic surgery. She was the first woman resident in orthopaedic surgery at Thomas Jefferson University. Early in her orthopaedic career, she subspecialized in pediatric orthopaedic surgery, particularly in the care of children with cerebral palsy, and later developed into one of the nation’s leading voices in that field. As such, she was the President of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. She also co-wrote a definitive text with Dr. Eugene Bleck entitled "Orthopaedic Management in Cerebral Palsy." She was an associate editor for Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology as well as Foot and Ankle International. She was instrumental in the creation of the national women’s orthopaedic society, the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society, and was its President as well as an officer in multiple positions.
She was an attending orthopaedic surgeon and associate professor at the Children’s Hospital of Philadephia for most of her career, along with an attending surgeon at the Medical College of Pennsylvania Hospital, where she took adult trauma calls for more than 20 years.
Additionally, she was an attending surgeon at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and an associate professor at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout her career she was an educator to medical students and residents until her retirement from medicine in 2018.
She was a member of the Villanova Board of Trustees for 10 years from 2012 through 2021. She previously chaired the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart Academy in Bryn Mawr as well as served on the Board of Trustees at Rosemont College and was Secretary of that Board.
She has been awarded the Alumnae Achievement Award at the School of the Holy Child Rosemont, Sacred Heart Academy, Bryn Mawr, Rosemont College and the Medical College of Pennsylvania.
She was awarded the Drexel University College of Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. She was also named to the Drexel 100 Alumni Hall of Fame in 2024 for Drexel University. She and her husband John are the parents of 6 grown daughters and grandparents of 12.
She joined the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society Board of Directors in 2016. She chaired the Philadelphia Flower Show 2020 through 2024. She is currently chair of the PHS Development Committee and served as a co-chair of the Flower Show Forward campaign in 2022-23.