In Memoriam

Extract

Medical laboratory professionals nationwide learned the unhappy news of Bernadette (Bunny) F. Rodak's death from pancreatic cancer at age 70 on March 22, 2016. Bunny's family, friends, colleagues, and clergy celebrated her life in a Eucharistic liturgy at her beloved St. Monica Catholic Church, Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 29 just prior to her burial.

Known to students, colleagues, and friends as Bunny, she served from 2006–13 as Editor in Chief of our ASCLS official journal, Clinical Laboratory Science. She served as the Clin Lab Sci Clinical Practice Editor beginning in 2001 and as a consulting editor from 1997 to the end of her life. During her tenure as Editor in Chief, Clin Lab Sci grew from four to five issues per year; having increased its submission rate through enhanced visibility to the ASCLS membership and the profession in general. In addition to serving as Editor, Bunny contributed numerous articles to Clin Lab Sci.

Bunny also served ASCLS as chair of the Scientific Assemblies for 1997–99 and again in 2002–04. She was vice-chair of the Hematology/Hemostasis Assembly in 1996–98, and chair 1998–2000. The assemblies gained organizational attention and grew during her period of leadership. Bunny was also a trustee of the ASCLS Education and Research Fund, Inc from 2014 to the day of her death.

Bunny's most enduring achievements are her textbook, Rodak's Hematology; Clinical Principles and Applications, now in its fifth edition, and Clinical Hematology Atlas, also in its fifth edition, which she wrote with her friend and colleague Jacqueline…