Community Mourns Passing of Focused Ultrasound Pioneer, Charles Cain

Published:

C CainProfessor Charles Cain, PhD, passed away on March 27, 2020, at the age of 77, after a three-year battle with prostate cancer.

Professor Cain was born to be a scientist and educator. He only wanted to work on new concepts and despised being a follower. His creativity and desire to lead resulted in his pioneering phased array research in 1990s and his creation of the histotripsy research field in 2003.

Professor Cain was an excellent and caring mentor to his students and junior faculty, many of whom have become leaders in their fields. He was also a visionary, a fearless leader, and a force to be reckoned with. He liked straightforward talking and getting things done.

Professor Cain founded the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan in 1996, which now has top 10 undergraduate and graduate BME programs in the US.

He was born in Tampa Bay and raised in Miami, Florida. Over the years, Professor Cain developed a deep love of hiking and camping in the mountains. His ashes will be distributed in Wind River Mountains in Wyoming, which was his favorite camping destination.

Above all, Professor Cain was a beloved husband, father, and grandfather. He is survived by his wife, Li, three sons, Kent, James, and Robert, and grandchildren Travis and Jenna. He will be dearly missed by many people as a creative researcher, a caring mentor, a fearless leader, and a beloved family member.

This tribute was written by Zhen Xu, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Michigan.