Nuclear Medicine Pioneer Paul V. Harper, MD Died During the Summer

1915 - 2005

Paul V. Harper, MD, 89, a pioneer in nuclear medicine, died of pneumonia and complications from diabetes Friday, July 15, in the Palliative CareCenter and Hospice of the North Shore in Evanston.

Dr. Harper was born in Chicago and grew up in Libertyville. Though his grandfather was William Rainey Harper, University of Chicago.'s first president, Dr. Harper attended Harvard University, where he majored in biochemical sciences and studied under Dr. George Wald, who won a Nobel Prize in 1967.

Dr. Harper graduated from Harvard with honors in 1939, the same year he married the former Phyllis Sweetser. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1941, and moved with his wife to Hyde Park, where he began a surgical residency at the University of Chicago.

The residency was interrupted by a three-year tour of duty in the Army that took him to France in 1944 and 1945. Dr. Harper returned to the university, where he became an assistant professor of surgery in 1953, an associate professor in 1955 and a professor in 1960. He moved his family to Glencoe, but continued spending most of the week in Hyde Park, said his son William.

As a professor in the surgery and radiology departments at the university's medical school for more than 40 years, Dr. Harper pioneered diagnostic and therapeutic uses of radiation that made him a veritable scientific celebrity in the 1960s. His breakthroughs, such as the discovery of iodine-125 in 1961, routinely made news.

The university wholeheartedly supported his work, leading Dr. Harper to decline every offer he had from other schools, even when the offer came with a raise, Dr. Harper's son said.

He was "incredibly dedicated to his work," his son said, but he allowed himself hobbies, including judo, playing the oboe, skiing and rock climbing.

Dr. Harper retired in 1986, becoming a professor emeritus, but he continued researching until last year.

He is also survived by two daughters, Stephanie and Cynthia; another son, David; a sister, Jane Overton; and two grandchildren.

This obituary originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

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