by John L. Go, MD
William W.M. Lo, MD passed away on July 16, 2015 after a long illness peacefully surrounded by his family at home. Known as Bill by his friends and colleagues, he was born August 24, 1934 in Hong Kong. Attending the University of Iowa Medical School, he graduated in 1960, and completed radiology residency as well as fellowships in cardiovascular radiology and neuroradiology at the Los Angeles County-University of Southern California Medical Center from 1961-1966. His first and only job was as a radiologist at St. Vincent Medical Center from 1966-2005, where he served as Chief of Neuroradiology from 1983-1986 and 1989-2005, serving as chair of Radiology from 1986-1989. Bill also served as Clinical Professor of Radiology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California from 1989 to 2015.
Bill joined St. Vincent Medical Center to work with the Otologists at the world famous House Ear Clinic where he developed a successful and fruitful collaborative relationship for over 40 years during the Golden Age of Radiology. A world expert on temporal bone imaging, Bill published over 50 peer-review articles on the temporal bone, 18 book chapters, and gave over 150 national and international invited lectures during his career. Some of his major contributions to temporal bone imaging include describing the aberrant carotid artery, descriptions of the endolymphatic duct and sac and pathology, and defining and describing pathology of the anterior epitympanic space, just to name a few, besides beautiful and descriptive pictorials of temporal bone anatomy. Because of his seminal work on temporal bone imaging, Bill was honored with the ASHNR Gold Medal Award in 2007 as well as a Presidential Citation Award from the American Otological Society in 2007.
Bill was also active in the radiology community, being elected as a fellow of the American College of Radiology in 1982, president of the Los Angeles Radiological Society 1986-1987, and president of the Western Neuroradiological Society in 1991.
Besides radiology, Bill had a lifelong enthusiasm for other cultures and travel. Also a photography enthusiast, he has travelled the world with his wife Rhoda and was an active participant of the travel series documenting his trips as a series of lectures at St. Vincent Medical Center which was always well attended and standing room only including a visit by National Geographic. Meeting Bill in 1996, I was immediately struck by his unassuming personality with meticulous and thoughtful mastery of the King’s English. Every word spoken was always carefully chosen, with perfect syntax and tone. Truly a world expert on the temporal bone, I have definitely learned a great deal from him. Losing friends can be difficult, losing people who you respect and admire is harder still.
Bill is survived by his wife Rhoda of over 60 years, his sons Ken and Clifford Lo, his granddaughter Sophie, besides all those who have gained from his contributions to our field.
