R. Michael Williams, MD, PhD, an oncologist in Modesto, California, former chief medical officer of Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), and a member of the AACR since 1979, died July 18, 2024. He was 77 years old.
Williams received a bachelor’s degree in culture and behavior magna cum laude from Yale College in 1969 and a master’s degree in microbiology from Yale University in 1970. He earned a medical degree magna cum laude from Harvard Medical School and a doctoral degree in immunology from Harvard Graduate School, both in 1974. He completed postdoctoral training at Harvard, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
In 1989, Williams was a co-founder of CTCA and served as senior medical director and chief medical officer until 2000. In 2003, he joined the Stanislaus County, California, health department as an oncologist and worked there for eight years. In 2011, he founded the Northern California Cancer Center, where he worked until his death.
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I knew Mike when we were Timothy Dwight undergraduates from 1968-70 (Mike was finishing his masters). We were introduced by Howard Ozer (d. 2018), one of his close friends, also in TD. We interacted over meals (Mike lived off campus) and through the Yale Scientific, which was led by Mike and Howard during 1968-69. Mike provided me mentorship, friendship, advice, encouragement and, when he was a Harvard first year MD student, a place to sleep when I interviewed there. Mike was very much ahead of his time in so many ways. He realized the immune system was going to be the key player in cancer therapeutics at a time when such opinions were widely ridiculed. I am deeply pleased he lived to see his ideas reach fruition in the last decade or so.
For tributes to Mike as a caring, innovative physician read here:
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/r--michael-williams-m-d---ph-d--obituary?pid=207322280