Ben Felson Endowment Fund

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The University of Cincinnati Department of Radiology Ben Felson Endowment Fund was established in 1987. Funds from the endowment were designated to be used to support teaching and research in diagnostic radiology. The fund also supports the Ben Felson Professor of Radiology, a title held by the chair of the department.

Benjamin Felson, MD was born in Newport, Kentucky in 1913. He later moved to Cincinnati with his family. He attended the University of Cincinnati (UC) undergraduate program and then the UC College of Medicine. He earned his MD degree in 1935. After an internship, a residency in pathology and a residency in radiology at Cincinnati General Hospital, he entered a cancer therapy fellowship program at the Indianapolis City Hospital.

In 1942, Dr. Felson joined the US Army Medical Corps and served as Chief of Radiology at the 28th General Hospital in Europe. He was discharged from the Army as a major in 1945 and returned home to Cincinnati where he joined the faculty at University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the medical staff of Cincinnati General Hospital. In 1951 Dr. Felson was named a professor and the director of radiology. He retired as director in 1973, and was named professor emeritus of radiology in 1983.

It was under the direction of Dr. Felson that the training program for radiologists at Cincinnati General Hospital flourished to become one of the outstanding teaching programs for clinical radiology in the nation. He was awarded the Golden Apple eight times by the medical school for his outstanding teaching. He taught and lectured world-wide and was especially interested in teaching in disadvantaged countries with struggling radiology programs.

His scientific, educational and societal contributions were extraordinary. He was the best known radiologist of his time. Fortunately, this was universally recognized during his lifetime. He received gold medals from the Radiological Society of North America and the American College of Radiology. He received a special award from the American Roentgen Ray Society for his outstanding service. He was one of only a few Americans to receive an honorary fellowship from the Royal College of Radiologists of Great Britain. He was awarded the Daniel Drake Medal from the University of Cincinnati.

In 1987, he was honored by the University of Cincinnati with the creation of the Benjamin Felson Chair of Radiology and the Felson Lecture.

During his career, Dr. Felson was a consultant to the US Air Force, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and part of a panel of consultants to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. He was the first vice president of the RSNA, chairman of the RSNA Commission on Education and member of the Board of the American College of Radiology.

Dr. Felson founded and edited the journal Seminars in Roentgenology from1966 until his death.

Radiology of the chest was Dr. Felson’s area of expertise, although he was proficient in all areas of diagnostic radiology. His contributions were critical in the development of an international classification for the diagnosis of pneumoconiosis and other disorders of the chest.

Dr. Felson died on October 22, 1988. However, his contributions to the field of radiology live on today.

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