James Foort

Who is James Foort?

James Foort, a leader and innovator in the field of prosthetic limbs, was born on December 10, 1921, in New West Minster, British Columbia. In 1941, after spending his childhood as a fisherman and part time high school student, he joined the Air Force as a wireless operator. When WWII ended, he attended the College of Victoria, where he finished his high school credits. He earned BASc and MASc degrees in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto, 1946 - 1951.

After earning degrees in chemical engineering, James joined Colin McLaurin, an Air Force veteran and aeronautical engineer, and Fred Hampton, a leader in the field of prosthetics, at Sunnybrooke Veteran’s Hospital in Toronto in 1951, working for the department of Veteran’s affairs. With the culmination of WWII, veterans across the world were complaining about the quality of their artificial limbs, as stated by Douglas A. Hobson in his article, Reflections on Rehabilitation Engineering History: Are There Lessons to be Learned? “There was clearly a coalescence of national need and emotions,” he writes, regarding the returning WWII veterans. This need “translated into a political will and funded programs within leading federal agencies in both Canada and the US.” At the Sunnybrooke Hospital in Toronto, James helped to develop a prosthetic foot that, unlike any previous models, had no moving parts and essentially functioned like a rocker. As well, due to complaints from fisherman, he replaced the raw hide used to protect the prosthesis with a plastic material that was more suited to withstand various elements such as moisture.