Remembering Former ABR President, BOT Chair Bill Hendee, PhD
Former ABR President and Board of Trustees Chair William (Bill) Hendee, PhD, died on March 14. He was 88.
Dr. Hendee grew up in rural Mississippi and attended Tulane University on a football scholarship. A U.S. Marine Corps Reservist, he pursued graduate studies in physics at Vanderbilt University on an Atomic Energy Commission scholarship and at the University of Texas on a Gilbert X-Ray fellowship. After three years of teaching physics as associate professor and chair at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, he was on the faculty of the University of Colorado for 20 years, where he started graduate and postdoctoral programs, and served as professor and chair of radiology and radiation oncology and director of the radiology residency program.
In 1985, Dr. Hendee was appointed vice chair and executive secretary of the Council of Scientific Affairs for the American Medical Association. In 1991, he joined the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he served as dean of the graduate school of biomedical sciences, senior associate dean for research, president of the MCW Research Foundation, and vice chair of radiology.
At the time of his passing, he was a distinguished professor of radiology emeritus at the University of Colorado and the Medical College of Wisconsin. He authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications and 24 books, including multiple editions of Hendee’s Medical Imaging Physics and Hendee’s Radiation Therapy Physics. From 1985 to 2014, he served as editor of the scientific journal, Medical Physics.
Dr. Hendee was elected president of several organizations, including the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Society of Nuclear Medicine, American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineers, and the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs. He was an ABR Trustee from 1995-2005 and served as Board President from 2002-2004.
He earned many honors, including the AAPM Coolidge Award, American Roentgen Ray Society Gold Medal, Radiological Society of North America Gold Medal, International Organization of Medical Physics Harald Johns Medal, Health Physics Society Elda Anderson Award, International Society for Optical Engineering Founders Award, Medical College of Wisconsin Distinguished Service Award, Millsaps College Honorary Doctorate, and University of Patras Honorary Doctorate.
Along with his wife, Jeannie, and their seven children, Dr. Hendee enjoyed theater, opera, ballet, art, and travel. In retirement, Bill and Jeannie bought a small lake house in central Wisconsin, where they lived a quiet life close to nature. He entertained his young grandchildren there, teaching them to fish, grow vegetables, swim, canoe, and enjoy the peace of nature and wildlife. He took up painting and pottery, deepened his appreciation for the arts, and was an avid reader until his last days. Dr. Hendee is most remembered by people who knew him as inspiring, passionate about learning, kind-hearted, charming, devoted to his family, and a friend you could count on.
