On Jul. 29, 1977, Arthur Canfield Upton, M.D. became the eighth director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) , serving until 1980.

Upton was internationally recognized for his research on the health effects of ionizing radiation. He worked with Jacob Furth in the 1950s at the Biology Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and subsequently became “the leading expert in radiation pathology.” “Operation Greenhouse” was a monumental experimental study of the pathologic effects of ionizing radiation.