John Leland Sosman

John Leland Sosman, MD, of Concord, Massachusetts, died at his home on April 3 after a long illness. He was 87.

The son of the eminent radiology pioneer Merrill C Sosman, Leland joined his father in practicing radiology in Boston hospitals. After earning his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1943 and his doctorate from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1946, he served in the US Army Medical Corps in postwar Germany at the 98th General Hospital in Munich. Returning to Boston he completed his residency and went on to become Chief of Radiology at the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital which later merged into the current Brigham and Women's Hospital. As a specialist in bone and joint disease, he developed techniques for using x-rays in identifying human remains, and his testimony set the precedent for using x-ray evidence as legal proof of identity. He was a founding member of the International Skeletal Society, and he continued to practice and teach in the Harvard University system until his retirement at age 81.

A lifelong athlete and mountaineer, he was captain of both the lacrosse and wrestling teams at Harvard, a leader in the intramural football league, and a director of the Harvard Mountaineering Club, but his greatest passion was skiing. He began organizing local ski races in the walk-up era of the sport, and went on to volunteer in all levels of racing, from high school leagues to the Olympics, for the next 50 years. He was a Director of the United States Ski Association (USSA) for over 30 years and a delegate and committee member for the International Ski Federation (FIS) for 25 years. He served on the hill for Winter Olympic Games from 1964 in Innsbruck to Salt Lake City in 2002. The current generation of skiing directors, many of whom he recruited and trained, looked on "Doc" as a booster, teacher, mentor, and example; several of them still consider themselves his pupils. Among numerous awards for his contributions to the sport, he received USSA's highest volunteer honor, the Blegen Award, in 1976, and was inducted into the U S Ski Hall of Fame in 1999.

Leland was predeceased by Mary Jo Kibler Sosman, his wife of 50 years, and his daughter Martha Sosman, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. He leaves his other children: son Eric Sosman and daughter-in-law Sully Bonn of Newton, MA; daughter Nancy Sosman of Sebago, ME; daughter Carol Sosman and son-in-law Peter Ham of Mansfield, MA; and daughter Amy Sosman of Portsmouth, NH; his two grandsons, Jeremy Ham and Ethan Ham of Mansfield, MA; and his sister Barbara Munson of Hanover, NH.