Ronald Van Heertum

Ronald Lanny Van Heertum passed away in the early hours on December 7th, 2022 in Naples, Florida. He was 82-years-old.

Dr. Van Heertum was born in Engelwood, New Jersey on November 23, 1940. After completing his undergraduate studies at Gettysburg College in 1962, he received his medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in 1966. He went onto an internship at Hackensack Hospital before completing radiology residency in radiology at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center. He finished his training in 1975 with a fellowship in nuclear radiology at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

The cornerstone of Dr. Van Heertum’s illustrious career was his 20-year-tenure as a professor and vice-chairman of radiology at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. While there, he pioneered Columbia’s nuclear medicine program as the medical director of the Kreitchman PET Center. In this role, Dr. Van Heertum participated in groundbreaking research in brain imaging. Following his retirement from Columbia in 2012, Dr. Van Heertum transitioned to a career in industry, where he continued to participate in nuclear medicine research, with a particular focus on oncology.

Aside from his academic appointments, Dr. Van Heertum was highly active in the national and international medical communities, and for a time acted as the chairman of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine as well as the American College of Radiology Nuclear Medicine Accreditation program. Dr. Van Heertum has authored myriad publications in his field, and was the editor for the book, “Functional Cerebral SPECT and PET Imaging,” which is now in its fourth edition.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Irene Van Heertum (Ostheimer) and his father, Arnold Van Heertum, as well as his brother Captain Bruce Van Heertum.

He is survived by his sister Janice Wedderman (VanHeertum) and her husband David of East Stroudsburg, PA and his children, Richard Van Heertum and his wife Vasha of Tolugo Lake , CA; Beth Nutt (Van Heertum) and her husband Joseph of Jacksonville, FL; Jonathan Van Heertum and his wife Sharay of Naples, FL; and Kristin Morris (Van Heertum) and her husband Tyler; as well as his grandchildren Brittany Nutt, Andrew Nutt, Sophie Morris, Diana Van Heertum, Parker Van Heertum, Natalie Morris, and Allison Van Heertum.