Dr. John M. Cameron

Dr. John M. Cameron, the Founder, Chairman, and President of ProCure Treatment Centers, the country's leading provider of proton-based cancer treatment, died on Thursday in Bloomington, Indiana. He was 73. Dr. Cameron, a nuclear physicist, was a pioneer in developing proton therapy as an alternative to traditional radiation treatment for advanced cancer. At ProCure, he oversaw the development and operation of four proton therapy centers in the United States that currently treat thousands of patients annually. Dr. Cameron also established the ProCure Cancer Foundation, which provides financial aid to enable pediatric patients to travel with their families to receive this less invasive form of cancer treatment. Prior to founding ProCure, Dr. Cameron had a long and distinguished career in nuclear physics, medical technology, research and administration. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1967, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington, and then joined the physics faculty at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. For nearly 20 years, he served as Director of the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility while also serving as Professor of Physics at Indiana University. He played a pivotal role in creating the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute at Indiana University in 2004. Dr. Cameron was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1987, and received the inaugural Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award from Ivy Tech Community College Bloomington in 2012. Dr. Cameron was born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland to Mathew and Jean (Gilmore) Cameron, and was raised on his family's farm in Northern Ireland. He received his undergraduate degree in 1962 from Queens University, Belfast. He is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, Cathleen Cameron of Bloomington; son Kevin Cameron and his wife Amy Busch of San Francisco; daughter Caitlin Denker and her husband Chris of Naperville, Illinois; sisters Linda (James) Beattie, Claire (Arthur) Kee, and brother Gilmore (Lorna) Cameron all of Ireland. He is also survived by his four beloved grandchildren, Sean and Ian Denker, and Emma and Oliver Cameron. A celebration of life is planned for later this year, and in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Cardinal Stage Company in Bloomington, Indiana.

Tributes

Dr. John M. Cameron

August 9, 1940 - July 3, 2014