Corrin John Hodgson, MD, MPH died on November 28, 2020 of advanced prostate cancer, heart and lung disease. John was the eldest son of Dr. Corrin H. Hodgson and Florence Pitman Hodgson of Fergus Falls, MN. When John was about two years old the family moved to Rochester. From ages 4-9 he lived in Lima, Peru where his father worked at the British American Hospital. The family returned to Rochester in the 1940s. John attended Folwell School, Rochester High School, Dartmouth College, and received his MD from the University of Minnesota.
After interning at St. Mary’s Hospital in Duluth, he began neurology training at Mayo, Rochester. This training was interrupted when he was drafted into the Air Force during the Berlin Crisis. During 10 years of active duty, Dr. Hodgson was a flight surgeon/director of medical services at Air Force bases in Mountain Home, Idaho, Pleiku, Vietnam, Selma, Alabama and Fairborn, Ohio, where he was Chief of the Vibration Branch, Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory.
Dr. Hodgson completed his Air Force training in Aerospace Medicine at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine and NASA Manned Spacecraft Center. He took additional internal medicine training at Mayo, Rochester and joined the Division of Preventive and Internal Medicine. Much of his practice was devoted to aviation medicine and he served as Medical Director of Northwest Airlines for years.
Dr. Hodgson was president of the North Central Occupational Medical Association. He was a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association and American College of Preventive Medicine. He was a member of the Space Medicine Branch of the Society of USAF Flight Surgeons and a charter member of the Society of NASA Flight Surgeons.
From 1988 to 1992 he served on the Board of Directors of the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine. He served as President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association and trustee of the American Board of Preventive Medicine. He was a consultant to IBM, the Federal Aviation Administration, and USAF Surgeon General.
Dr. Hodgson was Director of Base Medical Services, 934th Tactical Airlift Group at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport. He retired from the reserves with the rank of colonel. In 1991 he retired from Mayo Clinic to become Medical Director of 3M. He returned to Mayo, Rochester to practice internal, preventive, aerospace, and aviation medicine. He was a member of the Delta Omega Honorary Society of Public Health, was honored as Air Force Reserve Flight Surgeon of the Year and received the Airlines Medical Directors Achievement Award.
Family came first with Dr. Hodgson and he was immensely proud of his two daughters and twin grandchildren. His daughter Helen, mother of the twins, died in 2007. He is survived by Harriet (Weil), his wife of 63 years. He is also survived by brothers Dr. Stephen Hodgson (Eleanor) and Dr. Clague Hodgson (Kristi), daughter Amy J. Hodgson, granddaughter Haley (James) Earley, grandson Dr. John Welby, and great grandsons Everett and Judah Earley.
A memorial service will be held on a later date. Memorials are suggested to the Corrin H. Hodgson, MD Endowed Scholarship at the University of Minnesota and the Rochester Public Library. To contribute to the scholarship fund, contact the university and refer to endowment #11535.