Richard Leigh Cruess, CC OQ FRSC (born December 17, 1929) is a Canadian orthopaedic surgeon and academic.Born in London, Ontario, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University in 1951 and his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1955. From 1955 to 1962, he did his internship and residency at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and at the New York Orthopaedic Hospital of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.