John R. Hodgson, A.B., M.D. President, Radiological Society of North America.

Abstract

At its recent Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, the Radiological Society of North America elected as its President a diagnostic radiologist whose interests encompass most of the problems and goals of the organization and whose characteristics epitomize the qualities needed in seeking solutions to these problems and in giving direction to advancing the aims of the Society. John R. Hodgson, A.B., M.D., was born on Nov. 14, 1914, in Muskegon, Mich. He was educated in the University of Michigan and in the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated in 1940. After an internship at Providence Hospital, Detroit, he held a residency in pathology and medicine which he was forced to interrupt because of a bout with tuberculosis. This also forced his resignation from the Army Medical Reserve Corps. After recovery, his interests fortunately shifted to radiology, and he became a Fellow in Radiology in the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine of the University of Minnesota at Rochester, Minn., on July 1, 1943. He completed his residency training there and received the degree of Master of Science in Radiology in December 1946. He remained in Rochester as a consultant in the Section of Diagnostic Roentgenology at the Mayo Clinic, and since Nov. 1, 1967, he has been head of that section, succeeding Dr. C. Allen Good. In this role he not only engages in the very busy departmental workload but also directs and coordinates the ever-expanding complexities of a large, increasing staff whose interests and activities integrate closely with those of other sections within the Mayo Clinic. Furthermore, his duties demand the careful supervision of a large residency training program and participation in courses of continuing education for physicians in practice. Because of his sustained interest and work in the formal educational aspects of radiology, he was given the appointment of Professor of Clinical Radiology in the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in 1967. His long-maintained efforts and interest in pediatric and gastroenterologic roentgenology have produced an impressive bibliography. In the attainment of professional skills and administrative ability, John Hodgson has maintained a broad perspective of the whole field of radiology. He has been in the front ranks of the battle to maintain diagnostic radiology as an intact discipline without fragmentation, but at the same time he has encouraged the development of subspecialty proficiency within radiology rather than outside it, and he has stressed the truly consultative role the radiologist can and should play. In this era of personal commitment and involvement in matters of professional and public concern, Jack Hodgson has been a dedicated and active participant in both the scientific and organizational aspects of local and state medical organizations. He has been President of the Minnesota Radiological Society.