Jeff Fitzsimmons
Professor Emeritus Jeffrey Fitzsimmons began his career as an electronic technician repairing television sets and building amateur radios and antennas as a teenager (with lots of help from his dad). Jeff was hired as an electronic technician at Radiation, Inc and worked on the radio telemetry system for the Apollo lunar lander. He began college at the University of Florida majoring in Electrical Engineering but within a year was drafted into the military during the Vietnam war. He then spent 4 years in the Navy as a communication technician. Upon leaving the service he returned to the University of Florida to complete his college education. He changed majors several times but ended up with a PhD in Neuropsychology. After graduation he was hired into the Department of Radiology where he helped developed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). His NIH funded research led to the development of a number of new receiver coils which optimized imaging of everything from the human brain to the heart, spine, breast and the extremities. He also co-founded a company (InVivo) which went on the employ over 500 people who design, build and distribute MRI imaging coils all over the world. He retired in 2015 and now devotes his time to high tech startup companies and exploring nature.