Ronald Arenson, MD, served as the Chairman of the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California San Francisco from 1992-2017. He received his BA in Mathematics at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and he obtained his MD from New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York.
From 1963 to 1970, Dr. Arenson was a systems engineer for IBM. After serving in the Navy at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, he joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in 1976. At the University Pennsylvania, he served as the Associate Chairman of Clinical Services in Department of Radiology, where he also served as the interim Vice-Provost for Computing and President of the Medical Staff.
Dr. Arenson has conducted research and written extensively on Radiology Information Systems, Picture Archival, and Communication Systems. His special interests include picture archival and communication systems, workload and finances in radiology, the future of academic radiology and research training. He is a fellow in the American College of Medical Informatics, the American College of Radiology, and the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine.
In 2015, Dr. Arenson had the honor of serving as the 100th President for the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). He recently finished his term on both the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and the NIH Council of Councils. He has served as the President of the Association of University Radiologists, the Society of Chairman of Academic Radiology Departments, the Board of GE-Radiology Research Academic Fellowship (GERRAF) and the Academy of Radiology Research. He is the past President of the medical staff at UCSF, and also the past Chairman of the Credentials Committee. Dr. Arenson was the recipient of the UCSF Holly Smith Award for faculty in 2017, awarded for his outstanding service to the School of Medicine, the Campus and the Medical Center. Dr. Arenson was awarded the 2020 RSNA Gold Medal for his visionary work leading the early implementation of Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) in radiology.
Expertise:
Radiology
Specialty:
Computer technology, PACS, RAD13
Professional Interests:
PACS, medical informatics, clinical productivity, departmental management, computers, applications of computer technology to imaging
Education and Training:
• Medical School: New York Medical College, New York
• Internship: Beth Israel Medical Center, New York
• Residency: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston - Diagnostic Radiology
• Diplomate of National Board of Medical Examiners
• Diagnostic Radiology, American Board of Radiology