ASCO is deeply saddened by the death of oncology luminary V. Craig Jordan, CMG, OBE, PhD, DSc, FMedSci, on June 9, 2024, following a years-long battle with renal cell carcinoma. He was 76.  

Dr. Jordan came to be known as “the father of tamoxifen” and the discoverer of selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs); in 1974, his abstract published in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was the first to report that tamoxifen could prevent mammary carcinogenesis in animal models and block estradiol binding to the human estrogen receptor in breast tumors. Although he was not a clinician by training, his groundbreaking discoveries were essential in paving the way for translational research, adjuvant therapy, and targeted therapy as we understand them today. 

ASCO recognized Dr. Jordan’s unparalleled contributions to the field with the David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award, the Society’s highest scientific honor, in 2008. In his associated lecture at the 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting, “The Paradoxical Actions of Estrogen in Breast Cancer—Survival or Death?”, Dr. Jordan referenced the inaugural Karnofsky Award recipient, Sir Alexander Haddow, whose lecture 38 years earlier also discussed the relationship between estrogen and breast cancer. Dr. Jordan described the long road of scientific perseverance that led to the routine use of tamoxifen in clinical practice, and acknowledged the role of luck in scientific discovery.   

“Translational research does not travel in straight lines: one needs luck so the unanticipated can be integrated into the treatment plan and perhaps, if one is lucky, new innovations in therapy can be developed,” he said in the lecture. 

Dr. Jordan also served as a volunteer on ASCO’s Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Expert Panel from 1998-2010.  

Most recently, Dr. Jordan was a professor of breast medical oncology, professor of molecular and cellular oncology, and the Dallas/Fort Worth Living Legend Chair of Cancer Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; he joined the MD Anderson faculty in 2014. His wide-ranging career took him to such varied institutions as the University of Leeds, the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Bern, the University of Wisconsin – Madison, the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University. In a 2022 interview with The Cancer Letter, Dr. Jordan noted that he was particularly proud to have served as the inaugural Diana Princess of Wales Professor of Cancer Research at Northwestern. He also served as a captain in the British Army’s Intelligence Corps and a reserve officer in the elite British Special Air Service. 

Read more about Dr. Jordan’s extraordinary life in his own words in Endocrine Related Cancer, “The ‘Father of Tamoxifen’ Recounts a Life of Adventure and Science” in The ASCO Post, and “A Warrior for Women’s Health” and “MD Anderson Celebrates the Life and Legacy of V. Craig Jordan, PhD” published by MD Anderson Cancer Center.