Robert Kallman, 81; Studied Radiation to Kill Cancer Cells

Robert Kallman, 81, a Stanford scientist known for his early research in radiation and its use in killing cancer cells, died Aug. 8 at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto. He had suffered from lung disease and a heart condition.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Kallman earned his bachelor’s degree at Hofstra University and served as a medic in the Army in Europe during World War II. Later he received master’s and doctoral degrees in biology from New York University, and began his career as a research physiologist at UC San Francisco in 1952.

Four years later he joined the Stanford faculty, and in 1959 he became the founding head of the radiobiology research division of Stanford’s department of radiology. As chairman for 25 years, he made the unit a leader in international cancer research.

Kallman took particular pride in establishing the interdisciplinary Stanford Cancer Biology Program in 1978, funded by the National Cancer Institute.

Kallman, who retired in 1992, was a former president of the Radiation Research Society and was a consultant to the National Institutes of Health.