Arthur Porter

Arthur Thomas Porter IV (June 11, 1956 – June 30, 2015) was a Canadian physician and hospital administrator.

In 1991, he was appointed Radiation Oncologist-in-chief, professor and chairman of the Detroit Medical Center and Wayne State University.

During the subsequent five years, Porter accepted several other concurrent positions, including Director of Clinical Care at the Karmanos Cancer Institute and associate dean at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

He also founded a cancer clinic in Nassau, in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, known as the Cancer Centre.

In 1999, Porter was named CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, a US$1.6 billion (~$ in ) health system, which is one of the United States' largest urban health systems and the biggest non-government employer in Detroit.

In 2001, Porter was appointed to the presidential commission charged with reviewing the health care provided by the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.

In August 2002, Michigan Governor John Engler appointed Porter to a four-year term as chairman of Michigan's Hospital Commission.

He resigned from this position in 2003.

In February 2004, Porter was appointed to replace Hugh Scott as the Director General and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Quebec, one of Canada's largest academic health centres.

In February 2004, Porter was appointed as the Director General and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal, Quebec, despite warnings given to McGill University's recruiters in 2003 by the former dean of Wayne State University School of Medicine, John Crissman, as well as articles in the Detroit Free Press revealing his involvement in multiple side businesses.

The McGill University Health Centre is one of Canada's largest academic health centres and was engaged in a multibillion-dollar redevelopment project at the time.

Between 2006 and 2008, Porter served on the Governing Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), which oversees government funding for health-related research in Canada.

Related to Porter in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research were Michael Fortier, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, and Tony Clement, the Minister of Health.

He was appointed to that committee by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on September 3, 2008, and along with that appointment, was made a privy councillor.

On February 12, 2008, Porter, as Director General and CEO of the McGill University Health Centre, announced the launch of the Institute for Strategic Analysis and Innovation website.

In 2008, Porter became a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada when Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed him to Canada's Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC).

He left that position in December 2011.

Porter also served as chair of the Canadian Security Intelligence Review Committee, which reviews the activities of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canada's spy agency.

Porter completed his second term in December 2011, having handed the academic health centre the largest grant to a single institution from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (nearly $100 million).

This was matched by the Quebec government and supported by donors to bring research funding up to $250 million.

Porter was once president of the American Brachytherapy Society, the American College of Oncology Administrators, the American Cancer Society (Great Lakes); and the American College of Radiation Oncology.

He has also served as Chairman of the Board of Chancellors of the American College of Radiation Oncology and on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute (USA).

After Porter resigned as chair of the Security Intelligence Review Committee in November 2011, he was subsequently succeeded as chair of the committee by Chuck Strahl.

On May 27, 2013, Porter was arrested in Panama on fraud charges, which alleged that he took part in a $22.5 million kick-back scheme related to the construction of McGill University Health Centre's new $1.3 billion hospital.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation called it the biggest fraud investigation in Canadian history.

Porter denied any wrongdoing.

Porter composed his memoirs, The Man Behind the Bow Tie: Arthur Porter on Business, Politics and Intrigue, with writer and biographer T. R. Todd, and the book was released on September 12, 2014.

Porter died just before midnight on June 30, 2015, at a cancer hospital in Panama.

His death was announced on July 1, 2015.

Porter was born in Sierra Leone.

He held both Canadian and American citizenship.

He was married to Pamela Mattock Porter and had four children.

His mother was Danish.

His father, Arthur Porter III, spearheaded the expansion of the University of Nairobi in Kenya during the years when Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta was in power.

Porter received his early education in Sierra Leone and Kenya.

After attending the University of Sierra Leone, he studied in England at the University of Cambridge, including its School of Clinical Medicine.

Porter earned his M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee and certificates in medical management from Harvard University and the University of Toronto.

He also studied at Western University in London, Ontario.

He was bestowed a Fellowship and Diplomate status in Healthcare Administration from the American Academy of Medical Administrators.

Following his training in medical and radiation oncology, Porter assumed several senior positions in Canada, including that of senior specialist at the University of Alberta, Chief of Radiation Oncology at the London Regional Cancer Centre (University of Western Ontario), and Chairman of Oncology at Victoria Hospital in London, Ontario.