DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2383052561
(Radiology 2006;238:1079-1080.)
© RSNA, 2006
Shih Hao "Rudi" Tsai, MD
Justin J. Wolfson, MD
Dr Shih Hao "Rudi" Tsai, of Edina, Minn, died on August 27, 2005, after a short illness. He was born (October 2, 1918) and brought up in Shanghai, China. He graduated from the National Medical College of Shanghai in 1941, having served his internship and 2 years of residency in internal medicine at the First Hospital of the Chinese Red Cross in Shanghai.
His father and mother both died when Rudi was young. His father died of tuberculosis. The disease was very prevalent in China. Having experienced the deaths of his parents and noting how widespread the disease was, especially among the poor, Dr Tsai concluded that to enhance his knowledge of tuberculosis, its manifestations, and its therapy, he would have to come to the United States. He applied in 1947 for a fellowship in tuberculosis at the Glen Lake Sanitarium near Minneapolis, Minn. He began his fellowship during a period of war in China and, coincidentally, at a time when the first antituberculous antibiotics became available. These medications turned out to be a remarkable success.
Dr Tsai realized that for his life's work he needed further medical training in a recognized specialty that is less confining than the field of tuberculosis alone. With the success of antibiotic therapy, sanatoria all over the nation began discharging their patients with active tuberculosis to clinics, and therapy then continued on an outpatient basis. Dr Tsai chose radiology, and in 1959 he accepted a residency in radiology at Minneapolis VA Hospital, which was affiliated, for residency training, with the University of Minnesota Hospitals. In the same year, he secured his citizenship. He became a member of the faculty of Minneapolis General Hospital, now Hennepin County Medical Center, and a director of its radiology department. He was later made a clinical associate professor at the University of Minnesota.
Dr Tsai belonged to a number of societies, including the Radiological Society of North America, the American College of Radiology, the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), the Society of Nuclear Medicine, the American Thoracic Society, the Minnesota Radiological Society, the Minnesota State Medical Association, the Hennepin County Medical Society, and the American Roentgen Ray Society. For a number of years, he was an editor for Minnesota Medicine (1966–1986) and thereafter a member of the board of editors. He was a fellow of the ACCP and the American College of Radiology and a diplomate of the American Board of Radiology and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine.
Under Dr Tsai's supervision, new x-ray equipment was purchased and the efficiency and output were greatly improved. His students enjoyed his modesty, his sense of humor, and his cheerfulness. Informally, he had other characteristics that endeared him to his friends. He was scholarly, warm, respectful of personnel, and intensely honest and had a deep sense of fairness.
Dr Tsai devoted much time to his research, which consisted primarily of experimental studies with transplantation of lung and clinical studies of chest disease. He delighted in reading, and read broadly. Mystery stories were his favorite. He felt relaxed when reading Chinese poetry. He loved to write, and privately published a mystery novel.
He is survived by his son, Steven; a daughter, Eugenie; three grandchildren; and a sister who lives in Shanghai. His wife, Yuki, preceded him in death in March 2004.
