HAFNER, JR., Richard

the Joint Center for Radiation Therapy at Harvard in Boston where his son, Colin, was born. Ultimately, Dave rejoined the faculty at UCSF as a full-time physician and Professor of Radiation Oncology back in San Francisco where he had his daughter, Whitney.

Dave would spend the next four decades focusing his practice primarily on the treatment of brain tumors, leading the field of radiation oncology and pioneering some of the country’s first radiosurgery programs. Dave spent 34 of those years at UCSF, serving as the head of numerous clinical programs and associations including as President of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and President of the International Radiosurgery Society, lecturing around the world, and receiving many awards for his work, including ASTRO’s Gold Medal, the highest honor in his field. Dave finished his medical career as the medical director of the Gamma Knife Program at Washington Hospital in Fremont, California before finally retiring in 2020.

Notwithstanding Dave’s many professional achievements, Dave always remained humbly focused on the aspect of his work he found most important and fulfilling - helping to treat and save the lives of thousands of patients battling cancer, and teaching future generations of doctors to do the same. Dave’s contributions changed the field of medicine, a legacy that will continue for all time.

Dave had as much energy and enthusiasm for life outside of work as he had for his remarkable career. Dave was known for his countless backpacking trips in the Sierras, trekking in places like Alaska or to the base of Mount Everest (twice!), completing long distance runs throughout the Bay Area, and skiing double black diamond slopes around the world.

Though his life was filled with such accomplishment and adventure, Dave always maintained that his greatest pride was in his family. To his kids, Dave was the “greatest dad in the whole wide world,” always loving and supportive, and never ceasing to come up with some fun and novel activity like snorkeling in the Sierras, chiseling quartz crystals from the hills of San Mateo, investigating tide pools for sea anemones in Half Moon Bay, or skinny dipping in icy lakes while backpacking in Desolation Wilderness. Dave was the dad that led every school trip, living by his belief that the greatest investment he could make was in his children’s education, and frequently telling his kids – with a beaming smile – that he was so proud of them that “his buttons were popping off of his shirt.” Dave passed down to his kids the values that he lived by – to be a person of integrity who is