Dr. John H. Lawrence; Founder of First Nuclear Medicine Laboratory

BERKELEY —  Dr. John H. Lawrence, founder of the world’s first nuclear medicine laboratory, has died at age 87.

Lawrence, who suffered a stroke two weeks ago and died Saturday, was credited with developing some of the first radiation technology used in the treatment of disease.

A native of Canton, S.D., Lawrence graduated from the University of South Dakota and Harvard Medical School before joining the University of California in 1935, when he organized the UC Berkeley Donner Laboratory of Medical Physics.

Many of the experiments at the laboratory became the basis for routine medical treatment of disorders, including cancer.

Lawrence was the brother of the late Dr. Ernest O. Lawrence, a Nobel Prize winner in nuclear physics, the man for whom the Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore laboratories are named.

During World War II, John Lawrence was with the Office of Scientific Research and Development and the War Department.

Lawrence was appointed a UC regent in 1970 and served on the board until 1983.

His wife, Amy, died in 1967. He leaves four children: Dr. John Lawrence of Long Beach, Amy Sheldon de Rouvray of Paris, France, James Lawrence of Alamo, and Steven Lawrence of the San Francisco Bay Area.