Ronald McCoy: key obituary facts
Is Ronald McCoy dead? Yes. Ronald McCoy died on September 1, 2026, at age 96.
Cause of death: Ronald McCoy's cause of death has not been publicly confirmed.
What was Ronald McCoy known for?
He was a Malaysian obstetrician and peace activist.
More about Ronald McCoy
Gender: male.
Born: Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, British Malaya.
Occupation: Proposing and helping initiate the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Occupations: Obstetrician, peace activist.
Known for: Proposing and helping initiate the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
Ronald McCoy, the Malaysian obstetrician and peace activist who helped propose and initiate the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, died on September 1, 2026, aged 96.
McCoy was best known for helping shape the idea that became ICAN, the civil society coalition later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 for its work toward eliminating nuclear weapons through a treaty-based approach. Born in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, in British Malaya, he trained as a medical doctor and went on to specialise in obstetrics, practising medicine for decades before retiring from clinical work in the 1990s.
His opposition to nuclear weapons was influenced both by his experience of the Japanese occupation of Malaya as a child and by later accounts of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.