Raymond W. Ruddon, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the Eppley Institute
for Research in Cancer & Allied Diseases and the UNMC Eppley Cancer
Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, has accepted a position
as director of the Corporate Office of Science and Technology with Johnson
& Johnson Corp. in New Brunswick, N.J.
Dr. Ruddon, who has served as director since 1989, will step down sometime
in August and will begin his new job Sept. 1. Barry Gold, Ph.D., professor
in the Eppley Institute, will serve as interim director while a national
search is conducted for Dr. Ruddon’s replacement.
"Needless to say, I am disappointed that Ray will be leaving,"
said William Berndt, Ph.D., UNMC chancellor. "He has served the Eppley
Institute and UNMC extremely well, and his talents will be missed."
During Dr. Ruddon’s tenure at UNMC, several major milestones were achieved
by the Eppley Institute:
In 1993, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved the
creation of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center, a move that united cancer researchers
throughout the UNMC campus into a larger single entity and marked a major
first step toward Eppley’s quest to eventually become a comprehensive cancer
center, the most prestigious designation awarded by the National Cancer
Institute. Presently, the Eppley Institute is one of 10 basic science cancer
centers among the 55 cancer centers funded by the NCI. In addition to the
basic science cancer centers, there are 27 comprehensive cancer centers,
17 clinical cancer centers and one consortium cancer center.
Research grants received by Eppley Institute researchers nearly doubled,
going from $4.3 million in 1989-90 to $8.1 million in 1995-96.
In 1993, a four-story addition to the Eppley Hall of Science was completed.
The 48,000 square foot addition allowed Eppley cancer researchers to explore
new areas of research on the molecular and cellular events that cause cancer
and to develop new strategies to diagnose and treat cancer.
LB595 brought additional funding to the Eppley Institute through an
additional tax on cigarettes. The money is being used to fund a variety
of programs that will help make the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center a comprehensive
cancer center.
"This has been a very difficult decision for me because I have
enjoyed greatly my time at UNMC," said Dr. Ruddon. "By the time
I leave, I will have been director of the Eppley Institute for nearly eight
years. That’s as long as two presidential terms. No one should probably
serve much longer than this."
Johnson & Johnson generates about $22 billion a year in revenue,
Dr. Ruddon said, and spends $2 billion annually on research. In his new
position, Dr. Ruddon will be responsible for searching worldwide for new
ideas for drug discovery and other biomedical applications.
Prior to coming to UNMC, Dr. Ruddon was professor and chairman of the
department of pharmacology at the University of Michigan, where he served
on the faculty for 20 years. His service at Michigan was interrupted in
1976 when he did a five-year stint as director of the biological markers
program at the Frederick Cancer Research Center at the National Cancer
Institute in Frederick, Md. Dr. Ruddon was a summa cum laude graduate of
the University of Detroit in 1958. He earned a doctoral degree in pharmacology
from the University of Michigan in 1964 and a medical degree from Michigan
in 1967.