Bill Otterson

Bill Otterson was a cancer survivor who, at the time of his original diagnosis, was given 18 months to live twenty years prior. Since then Bill has been a tireless, selfless, and devoted advocate for cancer patients. He is a co-founder of the National Association of Cancer Patients (NACP) and has lobbied for FDA reform to get new cancer drugs to patients faster. In 1998 Mr. Otterson was appointed to the Governor's Council on Cancer Research and he was past president of the UC San Diego Cancer Center Foundation, where he was an active member of the board. Bill had approached his own cancer recovery with a hopeful and positive attitude and knows the benefit of passing along this type of encouragement to other cancer patients. To this end he has been a dedicated supporter, mentor and friend to numerous cancer sufferers both personally and via the Internet.

Apart from these accomplishments, Bill is also a nationally recognized entrepreneur, and a local community and business leader who served on the Southwestern Low Level Radioactive Waste Commission, and was a member of the Governor's Council on Biotechnology. This 64-year young entrepreneur, who has a bachelor's degree in engineering and a master's in business administration from Stanford University, resided in La Jolla with his wife, Anne.