Remembering Charles A. Coltman Jr., MD

A United States Air Force officer

A cancer physician and researcher

A professor of medicine

A chief executive officer

An ASCO president

A national board member for the American Cancer Society

The founder of The Hope Foundation for Cancer Research

The longest-serving group chair of SWOG Cancer Research Network

In all his roles, Dr. Charles Arthur Coltman, Jr. provided vision and a drive for excellence.

He also made the cancer research circle ever larger, so everyone was included.

At SWOG, he pioneered support for women in oncology, for young investigators, and for patient advocates. He forged connections with cancer researchers in Japan and later, by supporting former Group Statistician John Crowley, forging partnerships across Latin America.

He helped create the AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop, also known as the Vail Workshop, a clinical trials training program for young investigators that continues today.

Finally, Dr. Coltman expanded the cancer research community exponentially by co-founding the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The SABCS started in 1977 with just 140 researchers at an airport motel. In 2017, SABCS attracted nearly 7,000 attendees from the U.S. and 86 other countries.

Dr. Coltman died on Nov. 28, 2018.

He was 88 years old.

He will be missed.

His family is planning a service celebrating his life to be held at San Pedro Presbyterian Church in San Antonio on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Information about the church can be found here.