John A. Dixon
John Aldous Dixon was a world-renowned laser surgeon and official of the University of Utah Medical Center. He had served as executive vice president (1970-72), dean of the College of Medicine (1972-76), and vice president for health sciences (1973-78). In 1978, he left administration and returned to full-time teaching, patient care, and research.
He was a professor of surgery and the director of the University’s Medical Center's Endoscopic Laser Surgery Unit. The unit was later renamed the John A. Dixon Laser Surgery Unit. He was also president of the American Laser Society. By using a hair-thin quartz tube and a viewing device, Dixon was the first to use a laser to successfully treat ulcers and tumors, particularly in the gastrointestinal area.
Dixon was author of many medical texts and scientific papers, including his book Surgical Applications of Lasers.
He was a moving force behind construction of the University Hospital at the University of Utah campus.
Dixon was born on July 16, 1923, in Provo, Utah, and reared in Ogden. He attended Weber State College, Idaho State University, and the University of Washington before earning his bachelor's and doctor of medicine degrees from the University of Utah. He performed his surgical internship and residency at the University of Rochester and at the Salt Lake Veterans Administration Medical Center. He spent two years of military service as chief of surgery at Johnson Air Force Base Hospital, Honashu, Japan. Dixon then returned to Utah and served 18 years at a private surgery practice in Ogden.
Dr. Dixon was Ogden’s first board-certified gastrointestinal surgeon and was president of the Weber County Medical Society. He was also a member of the National Advisory Council on Health Professions Education and a past president of the Utah State Medical Association. He received the association's A. H. Robins Award for outstanding community service by a physician, its Distinguished Service Award and also the Distinguished Service to Health Care Award. He won the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence in 1985.
He had received honorary degrees from both the U. and Weber State University.
Dixon had also served as an Ogden City councilman and on the University of Utah Board of Regents.
He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a bishop, high councilor, among other callings. He and his wife, Karma, served a leadership mission in Salt Lake’s Liberty Stake. They were the parents of three children.
He died on February 15, 1992.
