VCU professor earns honorary doctorate from Linköping University

By Malorie Burkett

Jeffrey Williamson, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Division of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center, has received the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa in Medicine from the Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden.

The degree is awarded to an individual who has acquired equivalent knowledge and insights in a given discipline, or to an outstanding scientist from a country outside of Sweden whose institution collaborates with Linköping University.

Williamson received the degree this month during a ceremony at Linköping in appreciation of his work and collaboration with the Swedish university's faculty. During the week of the ceremony, Williamson also delivered a lecture titled "New Developments in Planning and Delivery of Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy."

In his role at the Massey Cancer Center, Williamson is responsible for directing the teaching, research and clinical activities related to radiation physics. Some of his research currently involves looking at new methods for using imaging technology to improve the planning and delivery of brachytherapy, an advanced cancer treatment for patients.

He received his Ph.D. in biophysical sciences in 1982 from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Before coming to VCU's Massey Cancer Center, he was a senior faculty member in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., where he solidified his national reputation as an innovative researcher in brachytherapy.