A memorial service was held at Duke Kunshan University for medical physicist Dr. James Bowsher, a “quick-witted, incisive and brilliant” professor who worked tirelessly for his students and in the global fight against human diseases.
Family, students, colleagues and alumni paid tribute at the Jan. 31 ceremony to the influential nuclear medicine expert, inspiring program leader, serial teaching award winner and gentle-mannered friend.
He passed away aged 64 in Kunshan on Dec. 2, 2022.
Dedicated to advancing the treatment and diagnosis of cancer and other diseases, Bowsher’s numerous achievements included driving the development of DKU’s medical physics graduate program and inventing a technique for improving nuclear medicine imaging, known in the scientific community as the “Bowsher prior”.
The associate professor of medical physics was also acclaimed across the Duke and Duke Kunshan community — which he served for more than 30 years — for his calm, approachable and thoughtful nature.
Leading the tributes, Dr. Fang-Fang Yin, director of the medical physics graduate program at DKU, said Bowsher made a significant impact in his field, with 69 academic publications to his name, and was key to the development of the program.
“So many students considered him not only as a professor who nurtured their scientific and professional knowledge, but also as their friend who they trusted,” Yin said.
First-year medical physics graduate student Weiwei Sang described him as a “physicist with a great love for patients, a mentor who never stopped learning and an American gentleman who was open and appreciative to others”.
“Quick-witted, incisive and brilliant, he was also very warm and spared no energy in helping students or promoting young scholars,” she added.
“I hope to carry on his vision and help patients stay healthy. The memory of him will never disappear.”
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Scott MacEachern spoke of the deep commitment that Bowsher – known as Jim to many – showed to his students.
“What I took from every encounter with Jim was the impression of someone who was friendly and warm, who was calm when decisions needed to be made, who was utterly engaged in supporting his students, and who was a central member of the DKU community.”
Bowsher served as a faculty member of Duke University School of Medicine and DKU since 1989, when he started in Duke’s Department of Radiology as a research associate.
Originally from Augusta, Georgia, he received his B.Sc. in physics from Davidson College and completed a Ph.D. in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Most of his faculty focus shifted from Duke to DKU in 2015, a year after Duke launched the medical physics graduate program at DKU which he was instrumental in developing.
Bowsher’s expertise was in reconstruction algorithms that were used to generate nuclear medicine images, which became an important contributor to the advent of molecular medicine.
He worked with Yin to design a robotic nuclear medicine system that could be used to target radiation therapy treatments based on functional information about the location and size of an active tumor.
Bowsher, who returned to Duke each summer to attend to DKU students studying for a semester in Durham, was recognized for his scientific work with a 100 Talents award from Jiangsu province in 2015 and won the Excellence in Teaching Award at DKU five times from 2016-2021.
One example of the impact that the late professor had on his students can be seen in the integral role he played in the life and career of Dr. Lei Zhang.
Zhang most recently worked alongside Bowsher at DKU as assistant professor of medical physics but has benefited from his mentor’s wisdom ever since starting his Ph.D at Duke in 2014.
Expressing his devastation at losing his friend and colleague and sending his deepest condolences to Bowsher’s family, Zhang said: “I know our pain and loss could never be compared to yours. We love you all and we will be thinking of all his family in the U.S.
“Jim, you will always be missed by us and you will stay in our hearts forever.”
Bowsher’s sister Janet expressed the family’s appreciation for the love and support they had received from the DKU community, adding that her brother was very proud of his students.
“We know that his memory and his contributions to the field of medical physics will continue through the work that each of you do,” she told the gathering via Zoom.
Closing the ceremony, host Yifan Hong, assistant director of the medical physics graduate program, said Bowsher “had left an imprint in our hearts and souls”.
Hong urged mourners to “remember him in your hearts and carry the lessons of his life with you”.
“You are his future and his memories,” he added.
- The James Bowsher Student Award has been established in his memory to support outstanding young scholars from DKU’s medical physics program. Find out more here.
More tributes to Dr. James Bowsher
“My impression of him as a perfect teacher was: professional but not rigid, strict but not harsh; he was an optimistic and humorous life mentor.
“He was also a true friend to all who had the honor of working with him.”
Ziyi Zeng, first-year student at DKU
“It was always a pleasure to work with him — such a considerate gentleman — for the past eight years.
“I feel so lucky to have worked with him on this program and we will carry forward his goal and target to develop this program.”
Claire Luo, DKU medical physics coordinator
“Jim really embodied the best of what we think of as the life of a faculty member — someone who worked tirelessly for the sake of our program and our university.”
Dr. James T. Dobbins III, founding director emeritus of Duke University’s medical physics graduate program
“Jim was a great faculty member and to some extent he was my mentor who guided me to DKU. Jim will be always with us.”
Dr. Xin Li, dean of graduate studies at DKU
“To me it’s no overstatement to say that Professor Bowsher changed my career choice and changed my life.”
Zhenyu Yang, DKU alumnus
“Jim was the most impressive teacher I ever had.”
Yaogong Zhang, DKU alumnus
