Walter Zingg Obituary

The International Academy of Medical and Biological Engineering records with deep regret the death of Walter Zingg, on December 23, 1999, in his 75th year. He was elected as a founding Fellow of the Academy in 1997.   

Walter Zingg was born in Switzerland, initially trained as a doctor in Switzerland, and subsequently did graduate training in Switzerland, USA and Canada to qualify in surgery. Following a period as Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg), he became Head of Surgical Research at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto in 1964. During this time, he developed an increasing interest in biomedical engineering research through the Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBME) at the University of Toronto. Part of his earlier research included the design (and patenting) of a tubular membrane oxygenator, which was a precursor of models currently in use, and important contributions to the development of insulin delivery based on a feedback control system.   

He was appointed Associate Director of IBME in 1975 and in 1983 he was appointed Director, a position he held until his retirement in 1989. At the same time he continued as Head of Surgical Research at the Hospital for Sick Children until 1988. In a long list of appointments to organising committees, two appointments stand out. For example, he was elected Chairman of the Gordon Research Conference on Biomaterials in 1983, the first scientist from outside the USA to be elected to this office. After a long association with the Hugh MacMillan Rehabilitation Centre, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Conn Smythe Research Foundation for Crippled Children at the time of its foundation, and subsequently became Chairman of the Board.   

Dr Zingg’s research and leadership in biomedical engineering has been recognised by many organisations. For example, he was awarded an honorary DSc in 1986 by the University Laval for pioneering work in artificial organs in Canada; he was made a Fellow of the Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society in 1990, and was later named a foreign fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.   

Fluent in several languages, he made many friends in the international research community. His wisdom and friendship will be missed by all who knew him and by generations of students who didn’t know him but will at least benefit from the foundations he laid.

Richard Cobbold

Founding Fellow of the IAMBE