Leslie Zatz

Nov. 23, 1928 - Feb. 21, 2020 Palo Alto

Dr. Leslie (Les) Zatz died at age 91 on Feb. 21, 2020 in his apartment at Channing House in Palo Alto, just two weeks after being diagnosed with liver and pancreatic cancer.

He was born in Schenectady, NY on Nov. 23rd 1928 to Ben and Sophie Zatz. He received his B. S. at Union College in Schenectady, NY and his M. D. at Albany Medical College, NY in 1952. He completed his internship at the University of Chicago and then married Micki Zatz in 1953 before joining the Air Force in Denver for 2 years. He completed his residency in Radiology and his M.S. in Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959.

In 1959 Les came to the Stanford University School of Medicine as an instructor in radiology. He rose rapidly through the ranks and in 1973 was appointed Professor of Radiology. He served in that function until 1991 when he was appointed an Emeritus Member of the Faculty.

Les distinguished himself in many fields especially as chief of the Radiology service at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital from 1972 to 1985. In 1971, the clinical introduction of CT scanning led to a revolution in medical imaging. Les quickly became an expert in this new field publishing multiple technical papers and a chapter in the premier text book “Radiology of the skull and brain”, 1981. Clinical MRI was introduced in the early 1980s. Les realized the significant contributions of this dynamic technology and was appointed director of the Felix Bloch laboratory for researching MRI.

Les enjoyed the great outdoors in his free time; snow skiing, camping and hiking. He always made time for family, taking vacations to fun, interesting and inspiring places that enriched his family’s life. His children Sharon, Daniel and Jon were truly blessed by his adventurous spirit. He was an early technology adopter buying his first computer, an Exidy Sorcerer, in 1978 followed by a first generation Mac in 1984. He continued his work on computers throughout his life and was a cherished member of the “tech squad” during his 9 years at Channing House.

Les was preceded in death in 2015 by Marilyn (Micki) Zatz his beloved wife of 61 years. He is survived by their three children Sharon Sozanski, Daniel Zatz, and Jonathan Zatz (wife Raylene), his brother Alan (wife Sandee) and four grandchildren Li Sozanski, Ben Zatz, Jeanette Sozanski and Jake Zatz.

Memorial services will be private. Donations in Leslie’s memory can be made to the Sierra Club or to a charity of your choice.