MARION I. KNOTT (pictured, seated with her husband, surrounded by their children) was the matriarch of one of Baltimore’s most philanthropic families. With her late husband, Henry J. Knott, she provided significant support for the hospital and health system over the years. In recognition of her support, the medical campus west of Baltimore was dedicated in her honor in 1994.
Her endowment of this directorship and professorship reflected her strong belief in the importance of the work underway at Hopkins in understanding, preventing, and treating cancer and other devastating diseases. Four of Mr. and Mrs. Knott’s 13 children, one son and three daughters, have battled cancer. Three were patients at Hopkins and benefited from their treatment.
A native of Richmond, Virginia, and a descendant of early American settlers from Scotland, Marion Knott came to Baltimore as a very young child. In a gentle and organized fashion she maintained a comfortable, welcoming home for her husband and family. She died in 2003.
Held by William G. Nelson
WILLIAM G. NELSON, Med 1987 (MD, PhD), has been named the Marion I. Knott Director and Professor of Oncology, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. After completing his internal medicine residency training and a medical oncology fellowship at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, he joined the faculty in 1992. At the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, he has served as the associate director for translational research and the co-director of the Prostate Cancer Program. Dr. Nelson specializes in the treatment and research of prostate cancer and is a recognized leader in translational research for cancer. Along with fellow Johns Hopkins colleagues, he discovered the most common genome alteration in prostate cancer. The discovery led to new diagnostic tests for the disease and has fueled interest in new drug discovery and new treatment development for prostate cancer, now ongoing at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Nelson serves in a number of leadership positions at organizations such as Stand up to Cancer and the V Foundation for Cancer Research.