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Today I pause in my
activities to write a tribute to the memory of a greatly respected
scientist, Edward Hoffman. The passing of this splendid man and
my very close friend fills me with deep and personal sorrow. Ed's
departure is a shock and is profoundly felt by all of us with whom
he had frequent contact.
I have interacted with Ed closely as a result of our involvement
with the IEEE, and in particular, the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences
Society. He had been actively involved with NPSS since 1977. Ed
gave freely of his time and effort to enhance the professional stature
of all members of NPSS. Just during the past decade, he served in
more than 15 different leadership roles on the NPSS Administrative
Committee (AdCom). Nearly all of these positions were multi-year
commitments. A sample of Ed's many leadership roles in NPSS included
the Medical Imaging Conference (MIC) Program Chair for the 1995
Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference (NSS/MIC),
Editor of the MIC papers that appeared in the IEEE Transactions
on Nuclear Science, Vice President, and President of NPSS. This
year was Ed's second year as President. During his tenure on AdCom,
Ed championed many noble causes. Although many of his accomplishments
served the entire NPSS membership, a particularly favorite cause
of his was to enhance the stature of the Nuclear and Medical Imaging
(NMIS) Sciences Technical Committee. Ed played a major role in getting
the MIC portion to be seen as an equal with the Nuclear Science
Symposium portion of the combined NSS/MIC meeting, and fought hard
to make the Medical Imaging Conference into the premier international
conference in the field. He spearheaded the effort to organize the
Medical Imaging community into an "Elective Technical Committee,"
was the first Chair of that Technical Committee, and wrote its original
Constitution and Bylaws. He also fought hard to have the MIC papers
found in the Transactions on Nuclear Sciences included in Indicus
Medicus, Medline, and other literature indexing services. Those
of us who are working in the field owe it to Ed to see that this
latter goal becomes a reality. He would expect no less than that
of us.
In addition to his distinguished service to NPSS, Ed also was involved
at a higher level in IEEE, where he served as a member of the Technical
Activities Board (TAB). This important IEEE board oversees the activities
of all 40 or so IEEE Societies comprising over 350,000 members.
While at TAB, Ed worked hard to improve the overall state of IEEE's
numerous publications.
Ed's scientific achievements were highly regarded by his peers and
resulted in him being elected as an IEEE Fellow in 1998. His citation
reads: "For contributions to the development of Positron Emission
Tomography, particularly in the development of its use for quantitative
measurements." In a given year, only a very few, less than
one-tenth of one percent of IEEE members, are elected to become
Fellows. Thus, this was a very high honor that Ed received, and
one that he fully deserved.
In 2002, Ed received MIC's highest award, the Medical Imaging Scientist
Award, for important and sustained contributions to the development
of positron emission tomography and for dedication to graduate level
education in the nuclear medical sciences. This is just another
example of the very high esteem that Ed's peers had for him.
Ed was very proud of his association with IEEE. I heard that one
time Ed was at a dressy formal reception and somebody made a comment
about the lapel pins that he was wearing. Ed replied with words
to the effect: "Look buddy, you can only get these pins if
you are an IEEE Society President AND an IEEE Fellow, and darn few
people can say they have both of these pins."
In the past few years, his wife Carolyn almost always accompanied
him on his business travel. My wife Nancy and I greatly enjoyed
their company when we met at the AdCom and NSS/MIC meetings, as
well as on other occasions. In all honesty, we truly consider Ed
and Carolyn not only our close friends, but our very special close
friends.
In closing, I extend to Ed's loving wife, Carolyn, and to his bereaved
relatives, my deepest sympathy. His many friends and the entire
NPSS community will miss him dearly. Yet Ed loved life and enjoyed
himself. But in the midst of all of this fun, Ed never lost sight
of a chance to inspire his students or serve his fellow colleagues.
He worked hard for good causes. And that is how we should always
remember Ed…as a champion of noble causes.
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