Join Us in Honoring Dr. Rock Mackie
On behalf of the University of Wisconsin Department of Medical Physics, we are proud to support the establishment of the Rock Mackie Lectureship in New Technology and Entrepreneurship Fund honoring Professor Rock Mackie—an extraordinary innovator, researcher, educator, and entrepreneur whose work has transformed radiation therapy and advanced medical technology worldwide.
This endowed annual symposium will bring leading inventors in medical technology to campus, offering students and faculty alike the opportunity to engage with cutting-edge ideas and the people behind them. It’s a fitting tribute to Dr. Mackie’s legacy and his enduring impact at the University of Wisconsin and within the broader medical community.
We hope others who have benefited from their time in this legendary department will join us in celebrating one of the truly great medical physicists in history by supporting this initiative.
DONATION MATCH
courtesy of Dr. Brian Pogue and UW Department of Medical Physics
And now, your gift will go twice as far!
Dr. Brian Pogue and the UW Department of Medical Physics have each generously committed $10,000 to match every dollar donated to this campaign—up to a combined total of $20,000! Your gift today will go twice as far in honoring innovation and advancing the future of medical physics.
Dr. Brian Pogue
Past Chair, Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2022-2025)
Dr. Brian Pogue is a nationally recognized leader in cancer and biomedical optics. As Faculty Director of Dartmouth's Innovation Accelerator for Cancer, he works to bring life-changing technologies from the lab to the clinic—advancing tools like Cherenkov imaging and molecular-guided surgery to improve cancer care.
His work has led to over 600 publications, 14 patents, and the founding of three startups, including DoseOptics LLC, which developed the first system to visualize radiation dose delivery in real time. A Fellow of five major scientific societies, Dr. Pogue's career reflects a deep commitment to innovation, mentorship, and improving patient outcomes.
Thomas Rockwell Mackie
Thomas “Rock” Mackie earned a BSc in Physics (1980) from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD in Physics (1984) from the University of Alberta. He was a Professor of Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin from 1987 to 2014, where he supervised 42 PhD students, and is now an emeritus professor. He was made an Honorary Member of the European Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) in 2010. He has received numerous awards, including the Coolidge Gold Medal from the AAPM (2014), the Gold Medal from ASTRO (2019), and the John Mallard Award for Innovation from the IOMP (2019), and he is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He serves as a commissioner of the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) and is Vice-Chair of its Board.
Rock Mackie has had a long entrepreneurial career, both as an academic and since retiring as a professor. He is best known for developing Pinnacle, a radiation therapy treatment planning system, and TomoTherapy, a CT-guided intensity-modulated radiotherapy company. He is a co-founder of Leo Cancer Care, which is developing upright radiotherapy, and Asto CT, the developer of the first weight-bearing CT scanner for horses. Leo Cancer Care and Asto CT are subsidiaries of Centaur Medical, where Dr. Mackie serves as Chairman of the Board. He is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Linectra, a company developing a scalable electron beam metal advanced manufacturing system. In addition, he is a board member of Shine Medical Technologies, which is developing medical isotopes using fusion and fission nuclear reactions, as well as Cosylab, a global software consulting company in scientific discovery and medicine.