Emeritus faculty member Richard A. Steeves passed away April 20th, 2025 at the age of 87 years. He joined the UW Department of Human Oncology (DHO) faculty in 1980 and developed a robust radiation oncology practice with special focus on the treatment of breast cancer. He also established an active hyperthermia program that primarily treated women with local regional recurrence of breast cancer where the use of hyperthermia augmented the beneficial impact of re-irradiation. He served as director of the division of radiation oncology for several years commencing in 1982 soon after his arrival in Madison. He fully retired from clinical practice in 2020 after 40 years at UW and DHO.
Dr. Steeves earned his MD at Western University, Ontario Canada and performed his residency in radiation oncology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also earned his PhD at the University of Toronto where he studied viruses that cause leukemia in mice as well as the radiation biology of bone marrow stem cells and optimal techniques for bone marrow transplantation.
Dr. Steeves loved to travel and cared deeply about the global environment. He promoted the use of carbon free sources of energy, especially nuclear fission. He served on the board of the International Crane Foundation for many years and led the “Pathways to a Sustainable Planet” discussion group for University’s Participatory Learning and Teaching Organization for 14 years. Richard was a creative and innovative person who built his own amphibious airplane “The Coot” that kept him intimately involved with the experimental aircraft association in Oshkosh WI. With his passion for clean energy, he later switched to an electric ultralight airplane.
Dr. Steeves also enjoyed travel related to his work in radiation oncology and his expertise in hyperthermia took him to meetings around the world. He worked closely and traveled extensively with colleague Dr. Bhudatt Paliwal (radiation oncology physics director at the time) to India, Thailand, and Vietnam for cancer and hyperthermia meetings.
Dr. Steeves was a passionate supporter of the DHO throughout his tenure on the faculty and following his retirement while he served as an emeritus professor. He is survived by his wife Elyane and 3 grown children and 3 grandchildren.
Dr. Richard Steeves was a very kind and thoughtful man who loved and was proud of his family and who had excellent rapport with his cancer patients and colleagues. His patients adored him. He took great pride in his work as a physician scientist at UW and the DHO over the years. His legacy will endure and he will be missed by the many who knew him and who will remember his thoughtful work as a cancer physician and champion of our natural environment.