James Travis Rhea

James Travis Rhea, MD (Jim) prominent Boston radiologist died on September 11, 2023, from complications of trauma. Jim was born in Paris, Tennessee, on April 9, 1944, the son of Marian Travis Green and William Gardner Rhea, Sr., MD, who delivered Jim at Nobles Memorial Hospital. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, Betty Rhea Wilder, and a brother, Gardner Rhea Jr, MD. Jim was educated in Paris schools and attended the E. W. Grove High School. He graduated Yale University, Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in biology and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from Vanderbilt Medical School in 1970 and Harvard Business School in 1973. His post-graduate training included an internship in surgery at the University of Florida and a residency in diagnostic radiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (MGH HMS). He joined the faculty of the Department of Radiology at MGH where, due to his scholarship and academic contributions, he quickly rose in the ranks to Associate Professor of Radiology at MGH and HMS. From 2004-2005 he served as the Minagi professor of radiology at the University of California in San Francisco. Jim has been the recipient of numerous academic radiology honors and rewards. He was elevated to Fellow status of both the American Society of Emergency Radiology and the American College of Radiology. Jim was recognized as an outstanding radiologist, teacher, and researcher. His focus of expertise was emergency and trauma radiology. He has received citations for numerous innovations in emergency radiology. He was active in organized radiology serving on committees for the American Society of Emergency Radiology and the American College of Radiology. He served as President of the American Society of Emergency Radiology from 1995-1996. Jim was a gifted lecturer and teacher, actively participating in visiting professorships at numerous local, national, and international radiology meetings. His Curriculum Vitae lists over 130 publications in radiology journals. Jim divided his time between Boston’s Back Bay and Sudbury with his life partner Steve Bobrinitz, friends, and family. He will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved him.