SGR Past Presidents

Eric “Skip” vanSonnenberg presided over the second joint meeting of the SGR and the Society of Uroradiology, particularly apt since he has been a member of both Societies. Skip graduated from Medical School at the University of Cincinnati, and then went on to do a Surgical internship. He did an Internal Medicine residency in New York. His radiology residency and fellowship in GI, Imaging, and Interventional Radiology were done at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine and in Radiology. Skip was a Professor at the University of California, Chairman at the University of Texas at Galveston, and currently Chief of Radiology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and an Interventional Radiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He serves as Editor of the Journal Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, and is an Associate Editor of AJR and the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. He is Past President of the International Society of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Radiology. Hobbies include playing baseball, basketball, and banjo. Being selected to the Board of the SGR and serving as President were the, “highlights of my academic life and a true privilege”.

Richard L. Baron, MD 2007-2008	Dr. Baron is currently chairman of the Department of Radiology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Baron completed his undergraduate education at Yale University, and graduated from the Washington University, St. Louis School of Medicine. Following an internship in internal medicine at Yale, he completed his radiology residency at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University. After serving on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Washington, he was chairman of the Department of Radiology at the University of Pittsburgh from 1992 – 1999, and was founding president and CEO of the University of Pittsburgh Physicians from 1997 – 2002. Dr. Baron has published extensively with over 100 scientific articles and 44 book chapters and review articles, predominately in liver and biliary tract imaging, and has served as an associate editor for Radiology, and currently associate editor for Liver Transplantation, as well as a reviewer for numerous radiology journals. He has served as President of the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance, as well as leadership positions in numerous general radiology societies.
Michael Federle, M.D. 2006-07	Dr. Federle attended medical school at Georgetown University. After a radiology residency at the Univ. of Cincinnati, he did an abdominal imaging fellowship at UCSF and joined the faculty in 1979. After 5 years he was named Professor and Chief of the Department of Radiology at San Francisco General Hospital where he and his colleagues wrote some of the original articles and books on the radiology of trauma, AIDS, and acute abdominal disorders. He moved to the Univ. of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 1989 as Chairman, but stepped aside a few years later to assume the role of Chief of the Abdominal Imaging section at the same institution. Since 2001 he has written several books, including the best-selling Diagnostic Imaging: Abdomen , and Imaging Anatomy: Chest, Abdomen, Pelvis. He has authored over 300 scientific manuscripts and chapters and has given hundreds of lectures to radiologists around the world. Dr Federle served as the President of the Society of Computed Body Tomography in 1989 and President of the Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists in 2006-07.
Marc Levine, M.D. 2003-04	Marc presided over the 33 rd annual meeting of the SGR and 4 th combined annual meeting of the SGR and SUR in Scottsdale, Arizona, a meeting that further strengthened the partnership between these two societies in sponsoring a comprehensive annual conference on all aspects of abdominal radiology. After attending the University of Michigan both for college and medical school, Marc did a radiology residency and gastrointestinal radiology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia from 1978 to 1982. He joined the faculty at Penn later in 1982 and became chief of the gastrointestinal section in Penn’s radiology department in 1997, a position he has held since that time. Marc has been a leading proponent of double-contrast barium studies for evaluating the gastrointestinal tract and has authored or co-edited several texts in this field, including Radiology of the Esophagus, the 2 nd and 3 rd editions of Double Contrast Gastrointestinal Radiology, and the 1 st and 2 nd editions of Textbook of Gastrointestinal Radiology. Marc was appointed as Advisory Dean in the School of Medicine in 2004, a position in which he is responsible for advising and mentoring one-fourth of each medical school class. He considers his time as a member of the Board and President of the SGR to be one of the highlights, if not the highlight of his professional career.
Susan Wall, M.D. 2002-03	Susan presided at the 32nd Annual Meeting, held in Cancun, Mexico. She led the Society through its successful and historic building of the formal partnership with the Society of Uroradiology (SUR) forming the Abdominal Radiology Consortium. The postgraduate course held in Cancun was the third broad program on abdominal radiology to be produced jointly by the SGR and the SUR. The Abdominal Radiology Consortium formalizes an agreement between the two Societies to continue a joint annual meeting. A graduate of the Medical School at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), Susan completed her residency in Radiology as well as a fellowship in abdominal imaging at UCSF. During a one year sabbatical in 1992-93, she completed a fellowship in Interventional Radiology at UCSF and has focused her clinical work in that area since that time. She has been on faculty at UCSF her entire career. There she is Professor and Vice Chair of Radiology as well as the Senior Associate Dean for the School of Medicine. She considers her collaboration with Dr Hedi Hricak (SUR President in 2003) and the completion of the Abdominal Radiology Consortium to have been the most meaningful of her professional accomplishments and she looks forward to future participation and expanded friendships in both organizations.
William W. Olmsted, M.D. 2001-02	Bill presided over the first Joint Meeting of SGR and ESGAR in 2002. He graduated from Williams College and the University of Rochester School of Medicine. After residency and fellowship at UCLA, he joined the staff of the Department of Radiologic Pathology at the AFIP as a Major in the United States Air Force. Bill was a faculty member at The George Washington University School of Medicine for 20 years and in 1999 joined the faculty of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He is Editor of RadioGraphics (appointed in 1989) and Education Editor (appointed in 1999) for the RSNA. Bill says he is honored to have been a SGR Board Member and President in 2002. The joint meeting with ESGAR and personal and professional friendships made during his tenure on the Board are especially meaningful.
Eric vanSonnenberg, M.D. 2000-2001	Eric “Skip” vanSonnenberg presided over the second joint meeting of the SGR and the Society of Uroradiology, particularly apt since he has been a member of both Societies. Skip graduated from Medical School at the University of Cincinnati, and then went on to do a Surgical internship. He did an Internal Medicine residency in New York. His radiology residency and fellowship in GI, Imaging, and Interventional Radiology were done at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine and in Radiology. Skip was a Professor at the University of California, Chairman at the University of Texas at Galveston, and currently Chief of Radiology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and an Interventional Radiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He serves as Editor of the Journal Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, and is an Associate Editor of AJR and the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. He is Past President of the International Society of Hepatobiliary Pancreatic Radiology. Hobbies include playing baseball, basketball, and banjo. Being selected to the Board of the SGR and serving as President were the, “highlights of my academic life and a true privilege”.
David Stephens, M.D. 1999-2000	David presided at the 29th Annual Meeting, held in Kauai, Hawaii. The accompanying postgraduate course was the first comprehensive program on abdominal radiology to be produced jointly by SGR and the Society of Uroradiology. A graduate of Texas Christian University and the University of Texas Medical Branch, David began his career in radiology while serving in the U .S. Army. He joined the staff at Mayo Clinic after completing his residency there in 1968. He is Professor of Radiology at Mayo, where his primary activities have been in gastrointestinal radiology and computed body tomography. David has been a member of SGR since the early days of the organization. He considers his participation in SGR to have been the most meaningful of his professional associations. He looks forward to future participation and expanded friendships in the organization.
Emil J. Balthazar, M.D. 1998-99	Emil is a graduate of the School of Medicine Bucharist, Romania and completed his radiology residency at Downstate Medical Center – Kings County Hospital in New York City in 1967. He worked on the staff of New York Medical College where he became a Professor of Radiology. He moved to New York University in 1980 where he is currently active in the clinical practice and teaching of GI Radiology and abdominal imaging. His other interests and hobbies are classical music, opera, traveling and chess playing.
Giles W. Stevenson, M.D. 1997-98	His medical training was in England at Oxford University and Guy’s Hospital, and his radiology training was influenced by Keith Simpkins in Leeds and John Laws at Kings College Hospital in London. After a fellowship in Japan with Dr. Tatsuzo Kasugai and Dr. Heizaburo Ichikawa to learn endoscopy and double contrast barium techniques in 1973, he practiced in Plymouth, United Kingdom before moving to McMaster in 1976 to follow Igor Laufer in GI radiology and endoscopy. McMaster provided the opportunity to develop an abdominal imaging fellowship program, and he became Professor and Chairman of the department in 1987. He joined the SGR in 1977, and in recent years has been delighted to see the growing international flavor of the Society and its links with ESGAR and with Japanese Radiology. He retired from McMaster in 1998, and now divides his year between clinical radiology practice in Sudbury, Ontario and travel to visit and work with colleagues whose friendships have developed through the SGR and its sister organizations in GI radiology. His main non clinical interest (apart from bad golf) is in screening registries for those at high risk for colon cancer.
Patrick C. Freeny, M.D. 1996-97	Pat presided at the 1997 meeting in Cancun, Mexico. He attended Davidson College and the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine. Following internship at UCLA, he spent three years in the Public Health Service in Alaska and then completed his radiology training at the University of Oregon. He was director of angiography and interventional radiology at the Virginia Mason Medical Center from 1975 to 1990. Currently he is Professor of Radiology and Director of Abdominal Imaging at the University of Abdominal Imaging at the University of Washington in Seattle. Next to his long time interest in the pancreas and liver, Pat is an avid mountaineer, sailor, kayaker, and skier. “My years as a member, officer and President of the SGR truly have been the highlight of my career in radiology.”
Bronwyn Jones, M.D. 1995-96	Bronwyn (BJ) presided at the 1996 meeting at the Southhampton Princess in Bermuda. She received her medical degree in 1967 from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and trained in Radiology at Kings’ College and St. Thomas’ Hospitals, London, UK. She was on the faculty at Harvard at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA for 6 years prior to moving to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD in 1981 where she is presently Professor of Radiology, Director of the Swallowing Center and Editor-in-Chief of Dysphagia. She is an avid reader, an intrepid traveler, loves nature and enjoys dancing and walking.
William M. Thompson, M.D. 1994-95	Bill attended Colgate University, the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He did a clinical internship in 1969-70 at Case Western Reserve prior to going to Alaska in the U.S. Public Health Service where he was a radiologist by act of Congress. Bill completed his radiology residency at Duke in 1975. He worked on the staff at Duke until he left in 1986 to assume his current position as Professor and Chairman of the University of Minnesota, Department of Radiology. His fondest memories of SGR come from the meetings and interacting with the Society members. He had the pleasure and honor of being trained by, and working with Reed Rice. He looks forward to participating for many years in Society activities and continuing to work with all of his close friends in the Society.
David W. Gelfand, M.D. 1993-94	David presided at the 1994 meeting in Maui, Hawaii. He received his M.D. from Yale in 1962 and completed his residency at Cincinnati in 1968. Dave served on the staff at Cincinnati and Wayne State prior to joining the faculty at Bowman Gray where he is Professor and Chief of GI Radiology. Dave is an active SGR member and currently heads the ACR Task Force on Colon Cancer for the American College of Radiology.
Charles A. Rohrmann, Jr., M.D. 1992-93	Chuck presided at our 1993 meeting in Scottsdale, AZ at the Princess Hotel. He trained at Minnesota receiving his M.D. in 1967 and completed his residency in 1972. He moved to the University of Washington after three years on the staff at Minnesota. Chuck was appointed Professor in 1983 and is Vice-Chairman of the Department. He writes "As the Society grows, its mission has been reinforced, its membership is strong, and its future is clear as the organization for patient care, education and research in gastrointestinal radiology."
Albert A. Moss, M.D. 1991-92	Al presided at the Orlando, Fl meeting in 1992. He received his M.D. from SUNY-Syracuse and trained in Radiology first at Pittsburgh (1968-69) and then at UCSF (1969-72). Al was on the UCSF faculty from 1972 to 1984 when he was appointed Professor and Chairman at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Al continues to be a strong supporter of SGR and GI Radiology.
Edward T. Stewart, M.D. 1990-91	Ed took us back to California in 1991 to La Costa at Carlsbad where we had the first and last Toilet Bowl. He received his M.D. from Washington University in 1962 and completed a Radiology Residency at UCSF in 1971 after a Medicine Residency at Strong Memorial in 1967. Ed joined the staff at Medical College of Wisconsin in 1971 and continues to practice there as Professor and Head of the GI Section. He worked closely with Wylie J. Dodds, M.D. for over 20 years until Jerry’s premature death. Ed writes "the influence of the SGR upon my career has been enormous. I feel privileged to have served as an officer of our Society."
George R. Leopold, M.D. 1989-90	George presided at our second visit to Hawaii in 1990 on the Big Island. He attended Medical School (M.D. 1962) and completed his Radiology Residency at Pittsburgh (1968). George them moved to UCSD. He was appointed Professor in 1976 and became the current Chairman at UCSD in 1985. George wrote, "Participation in the activities of SGR ranks high on my list of pleasurable moments in Radiology. I know of no other society that has worked so hard to preserve its excellence and has had such fun doing it!"
Thomas C. Beneventano, M.D. 1988-89	Had it not been for his untimely death, Tom would have been President at the meeting he so beautifully organized at Palm Desert, California in 1989. He received his M.D. from NY College of Medicine in 1957 and completed his Radiology Residency in 1963 at Kings Country Hospital. Tom then spent one year on the faculty at New York Medical College before joining the faculty at Albert Einstein in 1964 where he worked until his death. He was appointed Professor in 1978 and Acting chairman of the Department in 1985. Tom was loved by all of his many friends.
Roger K. Harned, M.D. 1987-88	Roger presided at the 1988 meeting in Nassau, Bahamas. He received his M.D. from the University of Virginia in 1961 and completed his Radiology Residency at Deaconess and Milwaukee Children’s Hospitals in 1967. Roger served on the faculty at Virginia for two years before joining the University of Nebraska in 1968 until his recent retirement. He was appointed Professor in 1979. Roger used his excellent GI teaching skills at the AFIP in 1987-88 as the Third Distinguished Scientist.
Reed P. Rice M.D. 1986-87	Reed Rice presided at the 1987 SGR meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona. Reed received his M.D. from the University of Indiana (AOA) and completed a Radiology Residency at the Mayo Clinic in 1961. Reed was on the staff at the University of North Carolina for three years prior to joining the faculty at Duke University in 1969 where he remained until his untimely death last year. He was a great teacher, tennis player, friend and GI radiologist.
Igor Laufer, M.D. 1984-86	Igor was our first President to preside at a winter SGR meeting, Acapulco, Mexico, in 1986. He was President for two years as we did not have a meeting in 1985. Igor received his M.D. from the University of Toronto in 1967 and completed a Radiology Residency in 1972 at the Beth Israel Hospital. Prior to becoming Chief of GI at the University of Pennsylvania in 1976, he was on the staff at McMaster University for four years. He was appointed Professor at Penn in 1980. Igor is an active and strong supporter of the SGR.
Henry I. Goldberg, M.D. 1983-84	Hank presided at our last fall meeting at the Silverado Country Club in Napa, California in 1984. He received his M.D. from UCSF in 1963 and completed a Radiology Residency at UCSF in 1967. Hank moved through the ranks and was appointed Professor in 1977. He has been a Vice-Chairman at UCSF since 1984. Hank wrote that he was present at the inaugural meeting of the SGR in Chicago and has seen the SGR grow and change over the past 24 years. However, the Society remains the centerpoint of education in GI diseases.
Harley C. Carlson, M.D. 1982-83	Harley presided at our return to Bermuda at the Southhampton Princess in 1983. He received his M.D. from Minnesota in 1951, completed residency training in 1961 at the Mayo Clinic after practicing general medicine in Sidney, Montana for five years. Harley has worked at the Mayo Clinic since 1961. He was appointed Professor in 1976 and is well known as an outstanding teacher. He was a resident with Reed Rice.
Edward B. Singleton, M.D. 1981-82	Ed presided at our only mountain meeting in 1982 in Banff, Alberta, Canada. He obtained his M.D. from The University of Texas (Galveston) and completed his residency in 1951 at Michigan. In 1953 he was appointed Chief of the Radiology Department at Texas Children’s Hospital. He became a Professor of Radiology at UT Houston in 1973 and at Baylor in 1979. As a pediatric GI radiologist, Ed continues to be a strong supporter of the SGR.
Joseph T. Ferrucci 1980-81	Joe presided at the 1981 meeting in Boca Raton, FL. He received his M.D. from Tufts in 1963 and completed his residency in 1968 at MGH. He remained on the faculty at MGH until 1992 when he became Professor and Chairman at Boston University. While at the MGH, Joe directed a very active Abdominal Imaging Section. He is a strong advocate for GI radiology and the SGR.
Robert N. Berk, M.D. 1979-80	Bob presided at the 1980 meeting in Maui, Hawaii. He received his M.D. in 1955 from Pittsburgh prior to completing a Radiology Residency at Peter Bent Brigham in 1962. bob was on the staff at Pittsburgh until he moved to San Diego from 1969-74. He was Professor and Chairman of Radiology at Southwestern Medical School from 1974-77 and UCSD from 1977-85. In 1986 he became Editor-in-Chief of AJR and retired from that position in June 1995. Bob wrote that one of his highest honors was serving as President of SGR.
Martin W. Donner, M.D. 1978-79	Martin presided at the 1979 meeting in Williamsburg, VA. He received his M.D. in 1945 from Leipzig Medical School. He trained in Internal Medicine and Radiology in Germany and Florida for the next 12 years. In 1957, he joined the staff at Johns Hopkins where he eventually served as Professor and Chairman from 1972-87. He continued to work on the staff in the well-known Swallowing Center. In 1992 he died following complications after a heart transplantation. He is missed by everyone who knew him.
Walter M. Whitehouse 1977-78	Walt, one of the founding members of SGR, presided at the 1978 meeting in Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. The University of Michigan was fortunate to have Walt for his entire academic career, B.A. 1935, M.D. 1941, Radiology Residency 1952, staff 1952-65, and Professor and Chairman 1965-82. Walt stayed active in the department until his death in 1985. Walt was an excellent teacher. An annual lectureship has been established in his name at Michigan.
John R. Amberg, M.D. 1976-77	John was president of The Society at the Hamilton, Bermuda meeting. He earned his M.D. at the University of Minnesota in 1949 and completed his residency in 1955. John finished his career at UCSD as a Professor of Radiology. He was award The Society’s Walter B. Cannon Medal in 1987 for his many accomplishments in the advancement of Gastrointestinal Radiology.
Sidney W. Nelson, M.D. 1975-76	Sid presided at the 1976 meeting in Hamilton, Bermuda. He received his M.D. from Northwestern in 1946 and completed his Radiology Residency at the University of Chicago for two years before becoming Chairman at Ohio State in 1955, a position he held for 20 years. In 1975 he moved to Seattle, WA in private practice. In 1978 Sid became a Clinical Professor at the University of Washington. Sid is well known for his innovative teaching stressing radiologic-pathologic correlation.
H. Joachim Burhenne, M.D. 1974-75	Joachim, a founding member of SGR, presided at the 1975 meeting in Hilton Head, SC. Joachim received his M.D. from Munich University School of Medicine in 1950 and did his Radiology Residency at Peter Bent Brigham from 1955-58. He was on the staff at UCSF for 18 years prior to serving as Chairman at University of British Columbia for 12 years. He continued to work on the staff at BC and was actively working with his wife, Linda, in the BC Screening Mammography Program.
William B. Seaman, M.D. 1973-74	Bill, a founding member of SGR, presided at the 1974 meeting in San Francisco, CA. He received his M.D. from Harvard in 1941 and completed his Radiology Residency at Yale in 1949. Bill served on the staff at Washington University until he became Chairman at Columbia P & S in 1956, a position held until 1982. He has been the Picker Professor Emeritus since his retirement. He wrote "As one of the founding members of the SGR, the success, viability and accomplishments of the society are a source of pleasure and delight. May it continue to prosper and stimulate in the future."
Alexander R. Margulis, M.D. 1972-73	Alex, a founding member of SGR, presided at the 1973 meeting in Chicago, IL. Alex received his M.D. from Harvard in 1950 and completed his Radiology Residency at Michigan in 1954. He served on the staffs at Minnesota and Washington University (St. Louis) prior to becoming Chairman at UCSF in 1963, a position he held until 1989. Alex is known to all of us as one of the outstanding leaders in Radiology.
Richard H. Marshak, M.D. 1971-72	Dick was the first President of The Society and presided over the meeting in Chicago, Illinois. He received his M.D. with honors from the University of Louisville in 1937. His unique forte consisted of correlating the pathologic findings of the gastrointestinal tract with the radiologic features. He finished his career as clinical professor of radiology at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, continuing to work steadily until his death in 1982.