RSNA Press Release

CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2007 - Today the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conferred its highest honor, the Gold Medal, upon R. Nick Bryan, M.D., Ph.D., of Philadelphia, Penn.; William R. Hendee, Ph.D., of Whitefish Bay, Wisc.; and James H. Thrall, M.D., of Boston, Mass.

In a tradition that originated in 1919, Gold Medals are presented each year to individuals who have rendered exemplary service to the science of radiology and who have received unanimous approval by the RSNA Board of Directors.

R. Nick Bryan, M.D., Ph.D.

With a long-standing interest in neuroradiology sparked during a neurosurgery internship, R. Nick Bryan, M.D., Ph.D. is a visionary leader, inventor and educator.

RSNA President R. Gilbert Jost, M.D., said he came to greatly admire Dr. Bryan's strong, thoughtful leadership during Dr. Bryan's service on the RSNA Board. "He is a steady, creative individual who has made impressive contributions to radiology on many fronts," Dr. Jost said.

An RSNA member since 1979, Dr. Bryan became president of RSNA in 2002. Dr. Bryan has also served as president of the American Society of Neuroradiology and American Society of Head & Neck Radiology.

"Participating in organizations such as RSNA, that help support our profession, has not only brought me great pleasure and satisfaction but also has been a small way for me to pay radiology back for all that it has allowed me to do," Dr. Bryan said.

Dr. Bryan began his career as a resident at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston in the late 1960s. He continued his undergraduate education at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and received his medical and graduate degrees from UTMB.

From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Bryan was director of diagnostic radiology and associate director of the Radiologic and Imaging Sciences Program at the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., where he created an Imaging Sciences Program to expand research activities. He was pivotal in the establishment of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, which he called essential for the development of new imaging techniques and technologies. Currently, Dr. Bryan is the Eugene P. Pendergrass Professor and chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia.

As RSNA Board chairman, he promoted development of new education grant programs for the RSNA Research & Education (R&E) Foundation. In 2005, as chairman of the R&E Board of Trustees, he challenged radiologists to raise $15 million by 2009.

William R. Hendee, Ph.D.

William R. Hendee, Ph.D, is a prolific scientist, as a well as a champion of healthcare safety and collaboration between academia and industry.

RSNA President R. Gilbert Jost, M.D., said Dr. Hendee's important and wide-ranging contributions to the specialty have influenced medical physics, diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology and biomedical engineering. "Dr. Hendee is an internationally renowned radiation physicist whose career has covered a lot of territory," Dr. Jost said.

Dr. Hendee said receiving the RSNA Gold Medal is a great honor and also recognizes the talented colleagues and students he has been privileged to work with over many years.

"I cannot imagine a greater professional pleasure than learning and working in a discipline such as medical imaging, which is continuing to grow in both its science and its applications to research and clinical care," Dr. Hendee said. "RSNA has been a very important part of this experience, and I am both exceptionally pleased and humbled by the receipt of its Gold Medal."

Dr. Hendee received his bachelor's degree from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., which awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1988. He received a doctorate from The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Hendee is a distinguished professor of radiology, radiation oncology, biophysics and community and public health at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in Milwaukee. He is also a professor of biomedical engineering at Marquette University in Milwaukee, an adjunct professor of electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a clinical professor of radiology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Dr. Hendee has served as president of the MCW Research Foundation, and has also been president of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, Society of Nuclear Medicine, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and American Board of Radiology.

Prior to joining MCW, Dr. Hendee was vice president for science and technology at the American Medical Association (AMA) in Chicago and executive secretary of the AMA Council on Scientific Affairs.

An RSNA member since 1976, he has worked with numerous Society committees and served on the Board of Trustees of the RSNA Research & Education Foundation for five years.

James H. Thrall, M.D.

James H. Thrall, M.D., doesn't spend much time looking back at the myriad accolades and honors he has earned during almost 40 years in radiology. The key to Dr. Thrall's success has been his ability to look forward.

"Dr. Thrall is a remarkable leader who is always breaking new ground," said RSNA President R. Gilbert Jost, M.D. "I don't think I know of anyone in our specialty as wise, as creative and as forward thinking."

"RSNA is an exceptional organization that all radiologists cherish and respect and from which all benefit enormously," Dr. Thrall said. "Receiving the Gold Medal is an incredible honor. It is very humbling to me to be selected, because I know how many outstanding people work on behalf of our specialty and on behalf of RSNA."

Dr. Thrall received his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1968. He completed training in radiology and nuclear medicine at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and served as the center's assistant chief of nuclear medicine from 1973 to 1975. Dr. Thrall returned to the University of Michigan as assistant professor of internal medicine and radiology in 1975 and became a professor in 1981.

Dr. Thrall currently serves on the Board of Councilors of the Society of Chiefs of Academic Radiology Departments and is a past-president of the American Roentgen Ray Society. In addition, he is vice chair of the Board of Chancellors and chair of the Commission on Molecular Imaging for the American College of Radiology.

Radiologist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Thrall also serves as the Juan M. Taveras Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He chairs the executive committee of the Harvard Departments of Radiology and is a member of the RSNA Research & Education Foundation Board of Trustees.

An RSNA member since 1983, Dr. Thrall recently contributed to The Blueprint for Imaging in Biomedical Research, a vision of how imaging can accelerate and enhance biomedical research, published in the July 2007 issue of Radiology.

Note: Copies of RSNA 2007 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press07 beginning Monday, Nov. 26.

RSNA is an association of more than 41,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists committed to excellence in patient care through education and research. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Ill. (RSNA.org)