Russell K. Hobbie

Russell K. Hobbie died peacefully at his home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on 16 December 2021, after a decade-long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Through his groundbreaking textbook, Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology, Russ changed how physics is taught to students in the life sciences.

Russ was born in 1934. His parents both worked at Skidmore College in upstate New York; his mother was the school librarian, and his father taught physics. Russ graduated with a BS in physics from MIT and then in 1960 earned a PhD from Harvard. His dissertation research was in nuclear physics, and he performed his experiments at the Harvard cyclotron. He then joined the University of Minnesota and worked there until he retired in 1998, initially as a nuclear physicist and then as a biophysicist. His contributions to the university included serving as director of the Space Science Center (1984–95) and, also from 1984–95, associate dean of student affairs in the Institute of Technology, now the College of Science and Engineering.

Early in his time at Minnesota, Russ met Richard Reece, a pathologist, at a dinner party. Reece was interested in using computers to interpret lab test results, and Russ collaborated with him on this project for 20 years. This experience motivated Russ to explore how to insert some medical examples into his physics courses. He had lunch with Al Sullivan, assistant dean of the medical school, to discuss his plans, and Sullivan encouraged him to attend medical school classes.

As a result, between 1971 and 1973 Russ audited all the courses medical students take in their first two years at the University of Minnesota. Based on what he learned, he designed a physics course aimed at biologists, biomedical engineers, premedical students, and physicists interested in the life sciences. The course ultimately led to the publication of Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology in 1978. The textbook covers topics that are often skipped in traditional physics courses, such as fluid dynamics, diffusion, osmotic pressure, and bioelectricity. The book also emphasizes medical imaging, including tomography, nuclear medicine, and magnetic resonance imaging. Russ eventually published five editions of the book, with the fourth and fifth coauthored by Brad Roth. In his review of the second edition of the textbook for Physics Today, John Wikswo—who taught his first class in 1977 from Russ’s typed book manuscript—wrote, “A good way to become a medical physicist or biophysicist is to master everything in Hobbie’s Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology.”

Russ was deeply interested in physics education. In addition to being a dedicated teacher, he was a member of an American Association of Colleges panel that examined the role of the physics major in a liberal education. He taught a summer institute for high school physics teachers funded by NSF. In 1988 Hobbie received the Distinguished Service Citation from the American Association of Physics Teachers and in 1993 was elected an Eminent Engineer by Tau Beta Pi.

In his retirement, Russ enjoyed woodworking, the cultural life of the Twin Cities, and spending time with his family at his cabin on Burntside Lake in the boundary waters separating Minnesota and Canada. He is survived by Cynthia, his wife of 64 years; his children, Lynn, Erik, Sarah, and Ann; and six grandchildren.

We anticipate that Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology will continue his contributions to the training of medical and biological physicists, biomedical engineers, and biologists for many years to come.