The medical physics and radiology community in Ireland was deeply saddened by the recent passing of Wil van der Putten, head of the department of medical physics and bioengineering in the West/North West Hospitals Group and adjunct professor of physics at NUI Galway.
Wil was a relentlessly positive colleague, deeply committed and always in position to see the big picture. His enthusiasm, energy and warm personality made an impact on everyone who met him.
He oversaw major developments in radiology and radiation oncology on the site of the Galway University Hospital’s campuses, and in other hospitals in the group since his appointment in 1995.
Wil had previously been employed at St James’s Hospital in Dublin and at the University of Manitoba following completion of his PhD in Trinity College.
In 2011, he took a sabbatical working as a consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.
Although born in Eindhoven, Wil spent more than 33 years in Ireland.
He set up the MSc course in medical physics at NUI Galway in 2002, and over the years shared his wisdom and enthusiasm with more than 100 MSc and PhD students.
The course achieved the honour of being one of only two worldwide to be accredited by the American Association of Physics in Medicine. Wil was deeply proud of this achievement.
It is typical of the man that 10 days before his death he chaired the board of the medical physics MSc programme meeting. None of us knew at the time that it would be his last.
He first met his future wife, Deirdre, on a boat on the Irish Sea on a windy October night in 1977 and they married in 1981.
Wil was never happier than in the company of his family, his wife Deirdre, and his daughters Sophie, Marieke and Emma.
Wil’s interests were wide. He was a passionate believer in social justice and was a proud member of the Labour Party. An accomplished oarsman, he rowed as a student in Eindhoven at international level, then for Trinity College and with the Tribesmen Veterans Club in Galway. He was also a member of the Galway Flying Club, and although he got to fly solo, sadly had insufficient time to complete his ambition of obtaining his pilot’s licence.
When faced with the knowledge of his final illness, Wil remained very positive despite arduous treatment regimes, and he passed away peacefully but rather suddenly.
He is survived by his brother Theo and sister Inge who live in the Netherlands. We were lucky to have him as a colleague, we were blessed to have him as a friend.
- PETER A McCARTHY