Jan Gillquist will be remembered as one of the greatest persons in the field of knee surgery and sports medicine. He was one of the pioneers of knee arthroscopy, and the first and only person, who became chairman of both the International Arthroscopy Association (IAA) in 1987-89 and the International Society of the Knee (ISK) in 1991-93. He organized the first combined meeting for the IAA and ISK in Copenhagen in 1993, which was the starting point for merging to form the current ISAKOS.

Jan was published extensively not only in arthroscopy, knee ligament injuries and sports medicine, but also other disciplines. He introduced a systematic step-by-step clinical scientific way of working. He was ahead of his time when it came to understanding the need for a systematic approach to follow-up, which stimulated the development of the Lysholm knee score and the Tegner activity rating scale, both of which are still used worldwide more than 30 years after they were first presented.

According to Jan, “Everything was possible and nothing impossible to question.” His passion was good science, correct science, and he was never afraid of sharp and critical questions; everything should be questioned and systematically studied.