Abstract
Dr Ernest Hodgson and Dr Mary Beth Genter at a Society of Toxicology reception in 2012.
It is with the deepest personal sadness that I share the news of the passing of Dr Ernest Hodgson. Dr Hodgson joined the faculty of North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina, after a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as Assistant Professor of Entomology in 1961, becoming a William Neal Reynolds Professor in 1977, and the first chair of the new NCSU Department of Toxicology in 1989. I was honored to have been hired into this new Department of Toxicology in 1990 and to work with Dr Hodgson and other distinguished colleagues for the next 5+ years. Dr Hodgson was a selfless department chair, and I have appreciated his “how can I help you?” style more and more as my career has progressed. His success was the success of his department’s students and faculty, and he sought to promote his program’s students and faculty whenever possible. When I walked into my new lab at NCSU for the first time, his first question was “What do you need to get started?” Looking around, it was clear that the lab space had not recently been a wet lab (I learned later that it had been a seed repository for the adjacent Unit IV Method Road greenhouses), and I told him that a fume hood and a light microscope would be great to get me started. I’m not sure of the source of the funds for the microscope, but he (jokingly?) told me that he won the funds for the fume hood in a poker game.
Former students and postdocs speak fondly of Dr Hodgson, even though most left the NCSU Department of Toxicology decades ago. International Journal of Toxicology Editorial Board member, Dr Scott Coleman, a former postdoctoral fellow with Dr Hodgson and currently Senior Director, Acceleron Pharma, Attleboro, Massachusetts, upon learning of Dr Hodson’s passing, commented “For me personally, Dr Hodgson laid the foundation of critically thinking about the data being generated and to think about what you would do next. If you were not sure what you would do next, then why generate the initial data to start? This still holds true for me today. Dr Hodgson also was never afraid to let his sense of humor show through in stressful times, and perhaps we should do a bit more of that. I would add he was a strong advocate for students overall and even stronger for the students and postdocs in his lab. He set his ego aside and looked out for the best interests of those around him.”
Dr Kevin J. Mills, a former student in the NCSU Toxicology program/department, now Principal Scientist, Global Biosciences, The Procter and Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio writes: “I was sad to learn of the death of Dr Ernest Hodgson. I know everyone called him Ernie, but I cannot bring myself to refer to him as Ernie because he was my former Department Head and the exact age of my own father, so he will always be Dr Hodgson to me. A few reflections follow. I met Dr Hodgson in June of 1986 when I first visited the campus of NC State University after having been accepted as a graduate student into what was then the Toxicology Program. His professorial mien, goatee, accent, and considerable achievements in the field of toxicology and toxicology education left me very impressed. But Dr Hodgson was much more than an ivory tower scholar. As I got to know him, first as a professor in toxicology classes and later as the head of our department, I learned that what made him such an effective administrator and leader was his focus on the people. In my experience, many academic scientists lack the people skills to be effective leaders but Dr Hodgson knew how to get things done by focusing on people first. I recall that he was always available for the students. If you had the slightest concern about anything, he would get right to it, and his office door was always open. At a time before every person and every lab had a computer, I remember him allowing the toxicology students to use his own personal computer in the department office to type up papers or for whatever they needed. Dr Hodgson also showed up to most, if not all, department seminars and thesis and dissertation defenses, which conveyed what I think was an important message to the students and faculty: that we’re all in this together. When I gave my first seminar in the department, he asked a thoughtful question that I could not (but should have been prepared to) answer and provided some helpful suggestions for me to consider. He also liked a good joke (the darker the better!) and told some really bad ones too! This was most endearing to me, as it seemed to suggest he didn’t take himself all that seriously and this put us all at ease in his presence. Late during my tenure at NC State, I learned that Dr Hodgson was one of my biggest supporters on the admissions committee and that it was his endorsement of my application that was crucial to my being accepted to the program. For this I am most grateful. The poet Maya Angelou once said ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ That is certainly true in the case of my experiences with Dr Hodgson.”
Dr Michael Lawton, a recently-retired Pfizer Research Fellow, recounts his decision to attend NCSU: “When I decided to pursue a PhD in toxicology as an undergraduate in Environmental Toxicology at UC Davis, I asked my advisor, Dr Lee Shull, what graduate programs and professors I should consider. On top of his list was Dr Ernie Hodgson at NCSU in Raleigh. Having done a bit of research with the effects of pesticides on mixed function oxidases in rodents, I was familiar with the work that Dr Hodgson had published in this area. After a visit to the three universities in the Research Triangle Park, NC area in the spring of 1987, I was most impressed by Dr Hodgson and his program at NCSU. It was clear that Dr Hodgson had the respect of fellow faculty members, graduate students, and numerous alumni who had themselves gone on to become leaders in their areas of expertise. Dr Hodgson’s easygoing, calm demeanor, his wry sense of humor, his vision for growing the toxicology program, and his leadership in the field were a source of strength and inspiration for me and my fellow graduate students. He was an outstanding scientist whose dedication to his students, faculty, and the field of toxicology will be sorely missed.”
Dr Hodgson was committed to serving the science of toxicology until the very end. I last saw Ernie at the 2016 Society of Toxicology (SOT) annual meeting, which he attended largely to record a lecture for the SOT Eminent Toxicologist Lecture Series. His lecture “We are not rodents: Environmental toxicants and the role of human studies” is one of 15 lectures by notable toxicologists and is available for viewing (and use by toxicology educators) on the SOT web site. 1 . Dr Hodgson was also passionate to develop an interuniversity consortium to address broad issues related to health and safety in agriculture in the early 1990s and was a founding member of the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute. According to his obituary, memorial contributions in honor of Dr Hodgson may be made to the Foundation for Agromedicine and Toxicology Fund and/or the Ernest Hodgson Agromedicine and Toxicology Lecture Program Endowment. Tax-deductible gifts may be made online at go.ncsu.edu/ernie-hodgson-memorials or by sending a check payable to NC Agricultural Foundation (note Foundation for Agromed/Tox and/or Hodgson Lecture Fund in the memo line) to: NC Ag Fdn, Campus Box 7645, Raleigh NC 27695-7645.
Our condolences to the entire toxicology community and especially to the Hodgson family. Dr Ernest Hodgson will be missed.