D. Eugene Strandness, Jr., MD

Dr. Strandness was born in Bowman, North Dakota in 1928, and his family moved to Olympia, Washington when he was 10. He graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 1950 and the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1954. After an internship at Philadelphia General Hospital and a tour of duty in the US Air Force, he completed a surgery residency at the University of Washington and a research fellowship at the National Heart Institute. He joined the University of Washington faculty in 1962 where he spent his entire career, being promoted to full Professor in 1970 and serving as head of the Vascular Surgery Division until 1995.

Although he retired with emeritus status at that time, he continued to conduct research and see patients until a few weeks before his death on January 7, 2002. Dr. Strandness is best known for his many contributions to the field of noninvasive vascular testing which established the modern vascular laboratory as an essential clinical tool.

In the late 1970s, Dr. Strandness and a group of engineers at the University of Washington combined a B-mode imaging system and a Doppler flow detector to create the first duplex scanner. This device is now the primary testing instrument in vascular laboratories throughout the world. Dr. Strandness was a member of the original organizing committee for the Western Vascular Society, and he was also the 43rd President of the Society for Vascular Surgery.