Bill Simon, a Wichita State alum, co-founded Sun Nuclear Corporation in 1984 with his wife and an old colleague. The company’s focus is to create and improve upon radiation technology used to treat cancer.

However, Simon never anticipated the growth his once small passion project would experience over the following decades.

Sun Nuclear has become one of the leading providers of treatment verification equipment in radiation oncology to hospitals worldwide. 

“I didn’t expect it. And it wasn’t because of me,” Simon said. “It was because of the people we had working there. The growth came about because we built a good product and supported the product.”

Before establishing his company, Simon obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics and a master’s degree in physics from Wichita State. 

Simon said physics is an important facet of radiation oncology. One of the key factors of radiation is figuring out where it needs to go, and that’s where physics comes in. 

“It’s probably the most advanced technology that you can find in a clinic,” Simon said. “So a tumor inside a body — you can’t see it. You can image it, but you can’t see it, and you have to direct the radiation to the tumor.”

Not only did Simon not anticipate the success found within his professional career, he never anticipated a career in physics in the first place.

He spent his childhood in Colwich, Kansas, a small farming community west of Wichita. 

“I worked in the summer on farms, bailing hay and driving trucks and that kind of thing,” Simon said. 

Although Simon claims he was always good at math in grade school, he said the related discipline of physics did not become a part of his vocabulary until much later.

“Being from a farming community, I’d never actually heard of (physics) before,” Simon said.

He was first introduced to the subject at Chaplain Kapaun Memorial High School, an all-boys Catholic school once located on Central and Woodlawn.  

“I hated physics in high school, and it was primarily because, I think, the instructor; it was pretty mundane,” Simon said.

Simon enrolled at Wichita State shortly after graduating from Chaplain Kapaun Memorial, refocusing his interests on a multitude of times.

“When I went to the university, I started off as an engineering major,” Simon said. “When I enrolled, I went to the bookstore, and I had to buy supplies for the drafting course I had to take. I looked at the price of all that stuff and thought, ‘I can’t afford this.’”

Considering his reality, he changed his major to mathematics, noting that it only required a paper and pencil. 

This shift planted the seed for his love of physics. A close-knit environment and the guidance of supportive professors encouraged him further.

“It was a very nurturing environment,” Simon said. “It was a small enrollment. I think maybe there were four juniors and seniors in the physics program at WSU.”

Donald Foster, who died in 2013, was a long-time professor and former chair of Wichita State’s physics department. Foster was the first to offer Simon a glimpse into his future, focusing on applied learning through research.

“I took my first laboratory course under Don, and he said, ‘We’re not going to follow the curriculum in this laboratory session. We’re going to learn how to do research,’” Simon said. “He shed some light on how to structure yourself, as opposed to following the structure of a curriculum that was all set up.”Mentee to mentor

Simon has remained involved in Wichita State’s physics program since his time here, occasionally offering scholarships and donations. At Sun Nuclear, he plays the role of mentor and historian, following in the footsteps of his professors at Wichita State. 

“I have a lot of knowledge of what the current products are that they make,” Simon said. “A lot of them I designed, so if they have an issue, or if there is a question about something, they’ll come to me.”

David Eichhorn, the interim dean of Fairmount College, took part in the decision to induct Simon into the Fairmount College Hall of Fame on Feb 4., recognizing his accomplishments along with his continued involvement at Wichita State. 

“Bill has been very involved in our physics department,” Eichhorn said. “We love to see that our alumni come back and interact with the department, and he has certainly done that. He’s provided some scholarships for them and worked with some of their faculty.”

Eichhorn said Simon has done just that, whether he ever intended to or not.

“I saw the benefits of producing something that people needed,” Simon said. “If you start a business to make money, that’s the wrong reason for doing it. You should start a business that you have a passion for. If you’re good at it, the success will follow.”