Gerald Dewey Dodd III, M.D.

Gerald Dewey Dodd III, MD, known by most as Chip, 71, passed away in a tragic accident on February 28th, 2026. A devoted husband, father, mentor, and friend, Chip lived with a boundless curiosity and a quiet drive that shaped everything he touched.

Chip was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 10th, 1955, to renowned radiologist Gerald D. Dodd, Jr., MD, and psychometrician and nationally accomplished watercolorist Helen C. (Glenzing) Dodd. Born fourth of seven children, he grew up between Philadelphia and Houston. He was influenced by his mother's artistry and his father's formidable medical career.

He entered college without a clear path but with a deep love of the outdoors and physical challenge. He spent most of his college years at Texas A&M exploring all the options available to him, competing in gymnastics, and teaching children's gymnastics, ultimately finding his calling in medicine. He attended the University of Texas Medical School in Houston, where he met the love of his life on the first day of freshman orientation. Chip graduated from the University of Texas Medical School in Houston and followed his father's footsteps into radiology. In the spring of 1983, he married his beloved wife, Deborah Neigut. He completed an internship, a diagnostic radiology residency, and concurrent fellowships in Abdominal Imaging and Angio-Interventional Radiology at the University Hospital/University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, finishing in 1988. Amidst all of this, he welcomed his two oldest sons into the world.

Chip and Deborah began their medical careers in Pittsburgh, PA, at the University of Pittsburgh, moving there in 1991. In Pittsburgh, he focused his clinical practice on organ transplant imaging, working closely with Dr. Thomas Starzl, a renowned transplant surgeon.

After five years and the addition of a daughter, they moved their growing family to San Antonio, TX, to be closer to extended family. Chip was recruited into abdominal imaging by his future mentor and close friend, Dr. Stewart Reuter in the Department of Radiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He became head of ultrasound and he performed the second radiofrequency hepatic tumor ablation in the US in 1995. Chip welcomed his last son during this time. He rose to Chair of Radiology in 2001, and during his tenure, he developed the first Resident/PhD program in Radiology in the country.

In 2008, Chip was recruited to be the Chair of Radiology at the University of Colorado, a position he held until 2023. Under his leadership, the department grew substantially; he established the Research Imaging Center and the BAR Lab, an innovative educational space for residents and medical students.

Throughout his career, he held numerous professional memberships and received more than thirty awards from national medical societies, including the top awards of the Radiological Society of North America, the American Roentgen Ray Society, the Society of Radiologists, the Society of Computed Body Tomography, and the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound. He served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Roentgenology, the Journal of Computed Tomography, and the Journal of Clinical Ultrasound. Chip authored or co-authored more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific papers, invited manuscripts, and book chapters. He gave countless national and international lectures. He obtained over 2-million dollars in research funding from both corporate and government agencies. Dr. Dodd was an internationally recognized expert in radiofrequency hepatic tumor ablation.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Chip was a man of restless curiosity and deep engagement with the world around him. He pursued martial arts, fly fishing, and hiking, and threw himself into his children's lives-leading Boy Scout troops, Indian Princess, coaching Little League baseball, and fostering a love of the outdoors in his family. He and Deborah loaded their four children into a motorhome for month-long road trips that crisscrossed the entire continental United States. He was a very capable person, who was able to solve any problem, and demonstrated to his children the value of reading and problem-solving. Even in his rare downtime, Chip was always learning-reading voraciously on topics from management and leadership to quality improvement and epidemiology. He approached the world with an intellectual hunger that never dimmed. His presence will be missed always, but never forgotten.

Chip is survived by his wife, Deborah Ann Neigut, M.D.; his four children, Nicholas "Alex" Dodd, MD and Kelli Horton, of Denver, Colorado, Christopher Dodd, JD and Lily Hofstra, JD, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Rachel Dodd of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and Samuel Dodd of Albuquerque, New Mexico; one grandchild; four siblings, Patricia Cording of Bolivia, North Carolina, Michael Dodd of Houston, Texas, Anne Dodd Irish of Houston, Texas, and Thomas Dodd of Fort Worth, Texas; and seven nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Susan Brown and Barbara Dodd.