Dr. Mueller Tips His Hat

With this issue of Seminars in Interventional Radiology, we acknowledge with gratitude the work of Dr. Peter Mueller, who has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal since 1991. Dr. Mueller’s fondness for sports metaphors (and 20-guage needles) is well-known. Long-term readers of Seminars will remember Dr. Mueller came onto the field as an early-inning relief pitcher and coach, bringing much-needed editorial leadership to the journal.

In the pages of this and other publications, Dr. Mueller has been a tireless advocate for the subspecialty of interventional radiology. Though he preferred to perform “on the field,” he never shirked the role of cheerleader-and critic-when he felt it necessary. In his editorials over the years, Dr. Mueller opined on such topics as previsualization, noninvasive evaluations, and the ability of interventional radiologists to multi-task. As evidence of his exceptional teaching and coaching skills, when Dr. Mueller decided to step off the field, he was instrumental in finding his replacement. With the next issue of Seminars, we welcome Dr. Brian Funaki, who will work alongside Dr. Mueller in 2005 and assume sole editorship of the journal in the following year. Dr. Funaki, associate professor at the University of Chicago, has long had an interest in medical publishing (we’ll have more about Dr. Funaki in the next issue).

Baseball fans know that after an exceptional performance pitching-or hitting-the star will return to the field from the dugout and tip his hat to acknowledge his cheering supporters. We imagine Dr. Mueller doing this now. On our behalf, and on behalf of our Seminars readers, we would like to express our gratitude for his contributions to the journal and, indeed, interventional radiology.