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Samuel J. Dwyer, III, PhD, FSIIM

(1932-2008)

It is with deep sadness that we received the news of the passing of  Dr. Samuel J. Dwyer, III on February 5, 2008. Dr. Dwyer was the humble, prolific pioneer of digital medical imaging, and a longtime friend of SIIM. We extend our deepest sympathy to Dr. Dwyer's family and close friends. We are pleased to share online the messages and remembrances of Sam Dwyer received at the SIIM office as our tribute to him.

On May 4, 2002 at the SCAR Annual Meeting in Cleveland, Samuel Joseph Dwyer, III, Ph.D. became the ninth SCAR member to be inducted into the SCAR College of Fellows.

Dr. Dwyer received his BSEE, his MSEE and PhD at the University of Texas-Austin specializing in systems and signal processing. After teaching electrical engineering at the University of Texas and the University of Missouri, Dr. Dwyer became the Director of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiological Sciences at the University of Kansas College of Health Sciences and Hospital in 1978.  He left in 1991 to become the Professor and Chief of the Division of Medical Imaging at UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Dwyer at the time of his retirement was a Professor of Radiology at the University of Virginia Health Sciences System. 

From 1979-1984, Dr. Dwyer sat on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Library of Medicine.  His research in radiology has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, Public Health Service, NASA and the National Science Foundation. In recent years, he completed a five-year, $980,000 grant from the US Army Medical Research and Development Command. 

Dr. Dwyer has chaired the SPIE Conference in Medical Imaging for 8 years, and served as Chairman of SCAR (1990) and Chairman of RISC (1992).  He was most recently an associate editor of the Journal of Digital Imaging. He has served in various other editor capacities for the Journal of Investigative Radiology, Journal of Telemedicine, Journal of Academic Radiology and Medical Physics and the Journal of Radiology.

Throughout his career, Dr. Dwyer identified, measured and quantified issues that no one else thought about.  His early contributions to digital medical imaging are still a part of the curriculum for new students in the field.  Dr. Dwyer has been characterized by his peers as a humble, prolific pioneer. In 2007, he and his wife Mary Lou had 6 surviving children and 16 grandchildren.

At the time of his fellows induction, Dr. Dwyer thanked the following people who encouraged and supported him: Arch W. Templeton, Bruce J. Hillman, Gwilym S. Lodwick, R. Gilbert Jost, Ronald L. Arenson, Donald A.B. Lindberg, Brent K. Stewart, G. James Blaine, David Avrin, Denise R. Aberle, Glendon G. Cox, Roger A. Bauman, Eliot L. Siegel, Bruce I. Reiner, Steven C. Horii, Anna Marie Mason, Phillip G. Drew, Richard Y. Wingard, Seong Ki Mun, W. R. Kimel, C. Leon Partain, and H. K. Huang.

First Samuel J. Dwyer Named Lecture - SIIM 2009 Annual Meeting (presentation slides)