Dr. Robert E. Zipf Jr. draws upon four decades of practiced expertise in the fields of medicine, academia and military service. Now retired, he most recently excelled as the director of clinical and diagnostic laboratories at Nash General Hospital in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, from 1978 to 2006. During this time, he also served as president of R.E. Zipf Pathology Associates, a consulting company that provided services in medical forensics, laboratory management and software, from 1978 to 2005. Recognized as a highly skilled, compassionate and honest professional, his initial ascent into pathology stemmed from the influence of his father, who was also a pathologist.
Prior to embarking on his career, Dr. Zipf earned a Bachelor of Arts from DePauw University in 1962 and a Doctor of Medicine from The Ohio State University in 1966. From there, he completed an internship at Miami Valley Hospital and a residency in pathology at Duke University Medical Center. Punctuating his medical training, Dr. Zipf served with the United States Air Force, having enlisted in 1967 and serving in the ranks of major, chief anatomic pathologist and consultant to the surgeon general until 1974.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Zipf was the director of forensic pathology at Duke University Health System beginning in 1967, the director of radioisotope pathology at Riverside Methodist Hospital, OhioHealth, and a forensic pathologist turned deputy coroner for Franklin County, Ohio. He also served as the founder of Clintrac Pathology Software and the vice president of Computerized Office Systems, having served in the latter role from 1986 to 2000. Furthermore, Dr. Zipf has lent his expertise to higher education, having taught as an assistant professor of pathology at Duke University and a clinical assistant professor at the East Carolina University School of Medicine. Likewise, he was an adjunct professor and school director at Barton College for nine years.
Among his many career achievements, Dr. Zipf is especially recognized for his work as a medical laboratory director and legal medical consultant. Over the course of his tenure in medicine, he was instrumental in converting a county coroner’s system to a medical examiner’s system, establishing a medical examiner system that is overseen by pathology residents, and assisting in the design and installation of the earliest laboratory information systems. As a testament to his success, Dr. Zipf was recognized by North Carolina Wesleyan College with its learning center named in his honor, the Zipf Learning Center, in 2021. He also received the 2022 President’s Award and 2021 Honor for Service from the college, among many other accolades.