Richard J. Solove was a young pharmacist in 1953 when he met Dr. Arthur G. James, a cancer surgeon at Ohio State who was treating Mr. Solove's father for thyroid cancer. The cancer later claimed the elder man's life, but it did not diminish the friendship between Dr. James, who was already dreaming of establishing a cancer hospital in central Ohio, and Mr. Solove, a 1948 graduate of Ohio State who now shared that dream.
In 1962, Mr. Solove sold his pharmacies and became a successful real estate developer. He remained a staunch supporter of the cancer program at Ohio State and was quick to answer the call when, in 1977, Dr. James asked him and other Columbus businessmen for help in pursuing a cancer hospital at Ohio State. Mr. Solove worked with Governor Jim Rhodes and the Ohio Legislature to secure funding for the hospital, which opened in 1990.
Mr. Solove currently serves on the cancer hospital board and is also a member of the The James Foundation Board which he helped found and served as its president for five years. In 1997, he donated $20 million for cancer genetics research at Ohio State, after which the University Board of Trustees changed the hospital's name to the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Another generous gift from Mr. Solove has helped establish the Dr. Arthur G. James and Mildred C. James - Richard J. Solove Chair in Surgical Oncology.
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