In Memoriam: A Tribute to Eduard de Lange, MD

It is with great sadness that the Department of Radiology & Medical Imaging sends this message: The evening of Wednesday, May 24^th, Dr. Eduard de Lange passed away peacefully at his home with his family by his side, losing his battle with prostate cancer.

Dr. de Lange was a private person, but it would be remiss not to share a bit of his personal story and some of the extraordinary contributions he made to the Department and the field of radiology.

Ed was born and raised in the Netherlands, where he completed his MD at the University of Leiden. After finishing 18 months of medical training, Ed, along with his then pregnant wife and 9-month-old daughter, went to a small village in Ghana where Ed served as the Physician-in-Chief and sole physician in a small hospital for 25 months. The hospital and village had no electricity, but rather a generator that he could turn on when he did surgery or took X-rays. (And yes, Ed delivered his youngest daughter in that hospital.)

Ed returned home to the Netherlands and completed a radiology residency, influenced by the potential he saw with a new imaging tool: Magnetic Resonance Imaging, or MRI. Due to some happenstance encounters, Ed decided to visit UVA when he was in the United States to study at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP).  Dr. Ted Keats, then Chair of Radiology at UVA, met Ed and invited him to work at the university as a radiologist for a year. In 1983, Ed came to Charlottesville with his family — and he never left.

At UVA, Ed delved deeper into the still-developing subject that spurred him to pursue radiology. He met a young MRI physicist Jim Brookeman and graduate student John Mugler, and soon became an expert in the field. Serving as UVA’s Department Director of MRI, Ed built an international reputation as an authority in MRI, particularly as it pertained to the liver, pancreas, and biliary system. He was an investigator on 14 grants funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as more than 20 industry-sponsored trials involving MRI.  His work led to more than 200 manuscripts and 2 books, and a superlative MRI physics lecture series for the Department’s residents. In 2017, Ed retired and was awarded Professor Emeritus status.  However, he continued to intermittently help out the Department by continuing to read some of the complex hepatobiliary and pancreatic MRIs through 2022.

Ed and his family have witnessed the beneficial effect of a culture that embraces equity, diversity and inclusion.  To help further promote such a culture, Ed and his wife Francesca generously endowed the UVA Radiology Residency Diversity and Inclusion Fund. Since 2018, the initiative has aimed to support the growth of diversity and inclusion in radiology and medical imaging — at UVA but also within the field as a whole.

In 2019 at the Keats Society Homecoming Reunion (honoring UVA Radiology’s alumni society), Ed performed on piano for those in attendance.  Before that evening, many of the attendees did not know that he played piano like a professional — nor that he composed his own music and had an online following. Ed radiated energy as he sat behind the keys, and every member of the audience could see his enthusiasm at being able to share his music.

Members across the Department and beyond will miss this very special person, colleague, and friend.

Watch until the end to see Dr. de Lange’s stage presence on full display!

According to his wishes, his family will be having a small gathering for family members only to bid Ed farewell. For those who want to share your thoughts with his wife and family, please feel free to send your cards or notes to the following address to be passed on to the de Lange family.

UVA Department of Radiology & Medical Imaging
1215 Lee St., Box 800170
Charlottesville, VA 22908
Attn: Alan Matsumoto

To celebrate Dr. de Lange’s lasting contributions to the University of Virginia Department of Radiology, donations can be made in Ed’s memory to the Eduard and Francesca de Lange UVA Radiology Residency Diversity and Inclusion Fund here and select this designation: Radiology –   Eduard and Francesca de Lange UVA Radiology Resident Diversity and Inclusion Fund.

Donate To The Residency Diversity And Inclusion Fund