Dr. James Wilburn Hampton
1931 - 2022
Dr. James Wilburn Hampton was born Sept. 15, 1931, in Durant, Oklahoma, to Mr. and Mrs. Hollis Hampton. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1952 and a medical degree from the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine in 1956.
Dr. Hampton was a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research trainee and completed a five-year fellowship in hematology/medical oncology at the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine.
Dr. Hampton was a NIH Career Development Award recipient and spent a year at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. For five years, he headed the hematology/medical oncology section at the University of Oklahoma and served as a member of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Dr. Hampton was a fellow of the American College of Physicians and has served as the medical director for the Troy and Dollie Smith Cancer Center at Integris Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City.
Dr. Hampton was clinical professor of medicine at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine. He served as chair of the Cancer Control Network for the National Cancer Institute. He was previously a member of the Institute of Medicine’s investigative panel on cancer in minorities and the underserved.
Dr. Hampton was named to the American Medical Association’s Consortium on Minority Affairs Governing Committee. He served twice as president of the Association of American Indian Physicians, and in 1987 and 2000, was named Indian Physician of the Year.
The University of Oklahoma Medical Alumni Association honored Dr. Hampton as the Physician of the Year in Private Practice in 1998.
In 1999, Dr. Hampton received the Humanitarian Award from the American Cancer Society. He was a member of the steering committee for the American Medical Association's Minority Affairs Committee from 1997 to 2000.
He served on the board of the Oklahoma County Medical Society and convened the meeting that founded the Hospice of Oklahoma County, a unique hospice sponsored by physicians.
Dr. Hampton was a collaborating partner of C-Change: Collaborating to Conquer Cancer led by former U.S. President George H. W. and the late Mrs. Barbara Bush. He was a past chair of the Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC), a national organization committed to serving minority communities and underserved people with cancer. In 2006, he was honored by the ICC with their "Leap of Faith" Award.
Dr. Hampton served as a hematologist/medical oncologist at Mercy Clinic starting in 2010.
Dr. Hampton’s wife, the Rev. Canon Carol Hampton, is an Episcopal priest at St. Paul's Cathedral in Oklahoma City. They have four children and seven grandchildren.