1999 WILLIAM A. McADAMS OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD

Presented to BRYCE L. RICH at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 27 - July 1, 1999

The American Board of Health Physics is proud to present the William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to Bryce L. Rich. This award is given annually to a certified health physicist who has made significant contributions toward the advancement of professionalism in health physics and to the health physics certification process. The strength of the certification process relies on the professional strengths and leadership of the people who serve on the Academy, Board, and Panels. Bryce has made significant contributions in the service of all three.

Bryce became a certified health physicist in 1961 and soon afterwards became extremely active in the certification process. He was selected to serve on the Panel of Examiners in 1965 and served as Chair of the Panel during the period 1969 through 1973. Those of us who have held a Panel Chair position know that we barely survive the current one-year tenure. We cannot even begin to imagine that someone had the sheer physical stamina to hold this job for three consecutive years, but Bryce did exactly that. One year after leaving the Panel Chair position, Bryce was elected to the American Board of Health Physics. He was elected the Board's Secretary/Treasurer during 1974-1975 and the Board Chairman in 1976. Bryce served as the Board Chair for three consecutive years (1976-1978).

Bryce's commitment to professional certification was not just limited to the ABHP. Because of his tried and proven management of the ABHP certification process, in 1982 Bryce was asked to serve on the Formation Board for the fledgling National Registry of Radiation Protection Technologists (NRRPT).

By 1982, the size and maturity of the certification program had prompted the ABHP to encourage greater participation by the growing body of CHPs. A new organization was proposed and its charter was defined and developed over the next three years, to a very large extent through Bryce's leadership and hard work. This organization's charter was to provide CHPs with more of a voice in the selection of Board Members and in the ongoing certification process. In 1986 this new organization, the American Academy of Health Physics, was in its inaugural year and it needed proven leadership and wisdom to ensure a successful premier. Without hesitation, the prevailing leadership of the time turned to the one leader who had given so much of his time, energy, and expertise to the certification process, and who also understood that the certification process serves the CHP, not the process itself. Bryce Rich was that leader; the first (Pro-Tem) President of the American Academy of Health Physics.

At the national level, Bryce is a Charter Member of the Health Physics Society and has held the following national HPS offices: Standards Committee Chairman (1978-82); Board of Directors (1982-1985); President-Elect (1982-83), President (1983-84), and Past-President (1 984 - 85); Awards Committee Chairman (1985-86); President Emeritus Committee Chairman (1989-90); HPS Fellow (1986); and HPS Chapter President for Eastern Idaho (1960) and Northern California (1972).

Bryce's accomplishments in so many areas of health physics are equally impressive and worthy of mention. His career spans more than 45 years of professional experience in such diverse areas of practice as enriched fuel processing, safety management, high-level waste management, R&D reactor operations, analytical processing and analysis, fuel storage, defense programs, and decontamination/decommissioning.

In 1953, Bryce graduated from Idaho State University with a double major of physics and mathematics. In 1954 he completed a one-year AEC fellowship in Radiation Safety at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under the tutelage of Karl Morgan, Elda Anderson, and Myron Fair. From 1954-1959 he worked at Idaho Falls National Laboratory Chemical Processing Plant as a health physics supervisor. From 1959-1963 he was the Chief of Health Physics at the INEL Engineering Test Reactor.

In 1963, he moved on to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Camp Mercury, Nevada Test Site, where he was the Health & Safety Group Leader. In this capacity, he provided significant analytical improvements in the detection of weapon test releases and in the site's sampling and analysis capabilities during the very crucial time when weapons testing went underground. In 1966 he transferred to Livermore, California, as Health Physics Group Support Leader where he supervised areas of radiation safety, industrial hygiene, high explosive and fire safety, that supported priority national initiatives such as Weapons Testing, Tritium Processing, and Natural Gas Stimulation in the West. In 1973, while still employed by LLNL, Bryce was transferred to Washington, DC, for one year as Technical Coordinator for a group of 20 prominent senior scientists on loan to the NRC to process the overwhelming licensing work load created by the “booming” commercial power reactor industry.

Late in 1973, he returned to Idaho Falls National Laboratory in a contractor position as Health Physics Supervisor where he became a widely-recognized expert in beta dosimetry, chairing an international symposium in beta dosimetry, and providing expert technical support to HQ DOE, NRC, EPRI, ASTM, and numerous other national and international agencies, expert panels, and consensus committees. In support of the NRC, he served on various expert groups during the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident. From 1980 to 1992, Bryce was Manager and Technical Director for radiological support for EG&G Idaho, INEL where he frequently interfaced with DOE, NRC, OECD, NCRP, ASTM, and ANSI. In the mid 1980's, he chaired the working group that developed the Uranium Manual of Good Practices.

In 1992, Bryce became DOE'S Radiological Safety Director and Principle Scientist for Radiation Safety for INEL, Mound Facility, Rocky Flats, and NTS. Today, Bryce is a widely-respected and highly-sought radiation safety consultant to government and government contractor programs throughout the DOE complex.

Bryce's leadership and professionalism in the early years of the ABHP and AAHP contributed immensely to the continued growth and national recognition of the CHP credentials and the practice of health physics. Today, we honor and recognize his many singularly distinctive accomplishments and contributions. I take great pride and privilege in presenting the 1999 William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to Bryce L. Rich.

Edward F. Maher, Vice Chair ABHP

2000 WILLIAM A. McADAMS OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD

Presented to JAMES E. TURNER by the American Board of Health Physics at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Denver, Colorado, June 25-29, 2000

The American Board of Health Physics (ABHP) is proud to present the William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to James E. Turner. This award is given annually to a Certified Health Physicist who has made significant contributions towards the advancement of professionalism in health physics and to the health physics certification process. The strength of the profession and the certification process relies on the professional strengths and leadership of the people who serve the American Academy of Health Physics (AAHP), the American Board of Health Physics, and the Panels.

Jim became certified in 1966. He served on the Comprehensive Certification Panel of Examiners from 1987 to 1992 and he was elected President of the American Academy of Health Physics for 1993. Jim's service on the Panel is recalled as superb. He was one of the Panel's most knowledgeable and helpful members. He was a prolific contributor to the question pool and the source of guidance for many panel members. He was a real gentleman who never made you feel that he was your technical superior, but certainly was and every one on the Panel knew it. During his tenure as president-elect and president of the AAHP, he led the effort to develop a draft Vision Statement for the AAHP. This Vision Statement was published in the December 1992 HP Newsletter and formed the basis for the development of the AAHP Long Range Strategic Plan. Jim also facilitated the transition of the ABHP from a separate corporation into an arm of the AAHP. During this period the AAHP approved the ABHP Policy Manual and gained responsibility for the funds formally held by the ABHP.

Jim has been associated with the radiation protection field from nearly the beginning of his career. He received an A.B. in physics from Emory University in 1951. He continued his education with an M.S. in industrial hygiene from Harvard University in 1953. He studied at the University of Gottingen, Germany, for one year as a Fulbright-Scholar (1953-1954). Finally, he earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Vanderbilt University in 1956.

Jim's first job was as a teacher at Yale University from 1956 to 1958. The official title was Instructor of Physics. He then moved to working with the Atomic Energy Commission in Headquarters from 1958 to 1962 as a radiological physicist. In 1962, he moved to Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he subsequently held a number of positions, starting in the old Health Physics Division. He became Associate Division Director from 1974-1977, before returning full-time into research. He was named a Corporate Research Fellow at ORNL in 1988. He retired from ORNL four years ago.

In 1978, Jim was President of the East Tennessee Chapter, Health Physics Society. This chapter presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. As a member of the Health Physics Society, Jim was elected to be a member of the Board of Directors from 1980 to 1983. The Society in 1988 honored his commitments in the area of health physics by making him a Health Physics Society Fellow and then in 1992 honored him again with the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award.

Jim has served as a researcher in the field of interaction of radiation with matter, early physical/chemical events in irradiated liquid water, atomic and molecular interactions, and interaction of metal ions with nucleic acids and proteins (chemical dosimetry). Jim and his family spent a year during 1969 and 1970 at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. There, as a visiting scientist, he carried out research on the use of negative pions for radiotherapy. He was a World Health Organization Consultant for two months, teaching health physics at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Bombay, India, in 1967 and again in 1973. In 1978 and 1979, he was a consultant to the Institute of Nuclear Energy, Sao Paulo, Brazil. During his employment days and since retirement, he has also spent extended periods as a visiting scientist at the GSF-Institut fur Strahlenschutz, Neuherberg, Germany. As a result of all his research and teaching activities, Jim has been the author/co-author of over 250 open literature publications in the area of radiation physics and dosimetry and the chemical toxicity of metal ions. He has written or co-authored three textbooks on radiation physics and health physics, one of which is recommended reading for candidates preparing to take the Certification Exam (Atoms, Radiation and Radiation Protection, Turner, J. E., New York: Wiley-Interscience, 1995). Jim was also K. Z. Morgan's co-editor of Principles of Radiation Protection.

In addition to all these research and publishing activities, he has been an active participant in many national and international organizations. From 1962 to 1965, Jim was a member of the International Commission on Radiological Protection Task Group on High-Energy Dosimetry. From 1963 to 1965, he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS)-National Research Council (NRC) Subcommittee on Penetration of Charged Particles. From 1977 to 1984, he was a member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. From 1980 to 1984, he was a member of the committee that prepared ICRU Report 37 on Stopping Powers for Electrons and Positrons. And, from 1988 to 1992, he was a member of the NAS-NRC Committee on Dosimetry for the Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) (1988-1992). Jim and colleagues at ORNL hold a patent, Ionizing Radiation Detector System, that was granted in June 1990.

As stated earlier, Jim's first job was as a teacher. In reality, he never quit teaching. He just changed where and how he did it. Many students across the country perhaps know him from his textbooks, review articles, or PEP courses given over the years at the HPS annual meetings. For those fortunate enough to live in East Tennessee, you may have actually had the privilege of being in a class taught by Jim in the University of Tennessee Evening School, where he is still an adjunct professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering. This past semester he taught a graduate course, Contemporary Health Physics, Preparation for the ABHP Part II Exam.

Because communicating the principles of radiation protection, radiation detection, and health physics is so important to Jim, he made a significant contribution in the area of the published word. Jim was one of the editors of the Health Physics Journal from 1974 to 1979. He was an Associate Editor of Radiation Research from 1980 to 1983 and again from 1991 to 1995. He is presently on the Editorial Boards of two other journals: Radiation Measurements and Radiation and Environmental Biophysics. Despite Jim's brilliance and notoriety, Jim has remained a down-to-earth and approachable individual.

Finally, in his spare time, for 45 years Jim has been the husband of Renate Turner, whom he met when he was a Fulbright student in Germany. They have three children.

Today, the American Board of Health Physics would like to recognize his many distinctive accomplishments and contributions to the certification process. I take great pride and privilege in presenting the 2000 William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to James E. Turner.

Robert P. Miltenberger, Vice Chair ABHP

2001 WILLIAM A. McADAMS OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD

Presented to GEORGE J. VARGO, JR. by the American Board of Health Physics at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Cleveland, Ohio, June 10-14, 2001

The American Board of Health Physics is proud to present the William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to George J. Vargo, Jr. This award is given annually to a certified health physicist who has made significant contributions towards the advancement of professionalism in health physics and to the health physics certification process. The strength of the profession and the certification process relies on the leadership and dedication of the people who serve the Board, the Examination Panels, the American Academy of Health Physics, and the Health Physics Society.

George's service to the profession of health physics has been impressive. He has served terms of office in the Western New York and Columbia Chapters, as well as on the Membership, Manpower and Professional Education, and International Relations Committees of the Health Physics Society. George is currently an Associate Editor and Software Editor for the Health Physics Journal and has written numerous book reviews. George has been selected as an official delegate to the IRPA Congresses in Montreal, Vienna, and Hiroshima. He was awarded the title of Fellow of the Society for Radiological Protection in 1998 and Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2000.

George was certified by the American Board of Health Physics in comprehensive practice in 1984 and in the power reactor specialty in 1986. In 1989, George was granted the Certificate of Competence in Applied Health Physics by the Society for Radiological Protection in the United Kingdom. George has been active in the ABHP's examination process for fourteen years. He participated on the Power Reactor Certification Examination Panel as a member, Vice Chair, and Chair. This was followed by a 5-year term on the American Board of Health Physics, during which time George served as Board Member, Parliamentarian, Secretary, Vice Chair, and finally as Chair in 1998.

While serving on the Board, George became convinced that the Part II examination process needed to be revisited in light of the cost required to produce a quality examination on a yearly basis. George led the effort to contract with an examination consultant to conduct a comprehensive job task analysis for the professional health physicist and to prepare a set of examination specifications for the Part II Exam. George has dedicated a significant amount of time to improving the Part II examination process, and he currently chairs the Part II Ad Hoc Examination Panel in preparing questions for the proposed new format of the exam. George serves as the ABHP delegate to the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards and was instrumental in the preparation and submission of the Board's application for accreditation with the CESB. Accreditation was granted to the ABHP earlier this year.

George developed an interest in health physics during his high school days while working on a science fair project. His project examined the structure of crystals, and George wanted to make measurements of crystal lattice size using x-ray diffraction. In order to obtain the needed measurements, George was referred to the Physics Department at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where several faculty members offered to assist him. Before George could use the equipment, however, he was required to complete a detailed radiation safety indoctrination on the potential hazards of the x-ray diffraction equipment and receive permission from the University's Radiation Safety Officer.

During the afternoons he spent around the Physics Department at Duquesne, George had the opportunity to meet Dr. Allen Brodsky, who had recently established an undergraduate program in radiological health. George was intrigued by the broad scope of the radiological health curriculum. He took classes at Duquesne during his senior year of high school, and enrolled in the radiological health program as soon as he was eligible following his high school graduation. After graduating from Duquesne with a B.S. degree in radiological health, George joined the staff of Radiation Service Organization in Laurel, Maryland, in 1978 as the Radiation Safety Officer. The following year, he headed north to the New York Power Authority's FitzPatrick Plant to pursue a career in power reactor health physics.

George spent the next ten years at the FitzPatrick Plant, holding a variety of positions with responsibilities for health physics training, emergency preparedness, respiratory protection, ALARA, and dosimetry. George also obtained a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Senior Reactor Operator license and, in addition to his regular health physics duties, routinely participated in shift operations for eight years.

While at FitzPatrick, George became interested in innovative source term reduction strategies to reduce the relatively high collective dose at the plant. George convinced senior management to invest in chemical decontamination of the reactor coolant system, which resulted in savings of over 700 person-rem and established a world record decontamination factor for a dilute reagent chemical decontamination. He also participated in and coordinated other source term reduction activities including hydrogen water chemistry, feedwater zinc addition and cobalt reduction programs. To achieve a better understanding of the contribution of various nuclear power plant radiation sources to worker dose, George developed a passive directional radiation probe using an array of TLDs. In 1992, he was granted a United States patent for this invention.

Along the way, George completed a Master of Science degree in Health Physics from Georgia Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Columbia Pacific University. George stayed involved in education as an adjunct associate professor of nuclear engineering and engineering physics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At RPI, he supervised a number of senior projects for undergraduate students in the radiological engineering option and served on committees for several M.S. students. Despite the great distance from Richland, he still remains active at RPI and returns to New York to teach classes and give seminars. In 1991, George left New York Power Authority and joined Battelle at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Staff Scientist. George was invited to join the DOE's International Nuclear Safety Program, where he assumed a lead role in projects to develop a nuclear and radiation safety regulatory infrastructure in the Russian Federation and to improve emergency preparedness. This program has required George to spend significant amounts of time in the Ukraine, as well as many other countries of the former Soviet Union.

George managed the Chernobyl Dose Reduction Project, whose goal was to transfer and upgrade health physics technology at the Chernobyl Shelter. George also recently edited a book on the Chernobyl accident. The book, titled The Chernobyl Accident: A Comprehensive Risk Assessment, originated from a compilation of Ukrainian technical papers, and included assessments of the risks posed by the shelter and damaged reactor, waste management, environmental impacts, and medical effects.

Somehow, in addition to this impressive list of professional activities, George finds time to engage in such hobbies as photography, amateur radio, and model rocketry. He also has been active in organizing the Tri-Cities' annual Tumbleweed Music Festival.

Today, the American Board of Health Physics and American Academy of Health Physics would like to recognize George for his leadership and accomplishments in the field of health physics and in the certification process. I take great pride and privilege in presenting the 2001 William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to George J. Vargo, Jr.

Kathryn H. Pryor, Vice Chair ABHP

2002 WILLIAM A. McADAMS OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD

Presented to PAUL L. ZIEMER by the American Board of Health Physics at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Tampa, Florida, June 16-20, 2002

2003 WILLIAM A. McADAMS OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD

Presented to HERMAN CEMBER by the American Board of Health Physics at the 48th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, San Diego, California, July 20-24, 2003

Dr. Herman Cember is the recipient of the 2003 William McAdams Outstanding Service Award. This award is presented annually by the American Board of Health Physics (ABHP) and the American Academy of Health Physics (AAHP) to honor a certified health physicist who has made a significant contribution toward the advancement of professionalism in health physics and to the certification process. In conferring this award, the nominating committee especially recognizes the service of Dr. Cember on the ABHP Panel of Examiners, service as Past President of the AAHP, and his continuing involvement in providing health physics expertise, education and training via his publications-as well as summer school and associated PEP course teachings.

Herman has been a scientific contributor to various aspects of the health physics field for over forty years. He received his BS degree in electrical engineering from City College of New York and his MS and Ph.D. degrees in biophysics from the University of Pittsburgh. He has extensive experience in radiogenic lung cancer and heavy metal toxicology. As a radiological health and safety specialist, he has been active in education, research, and applied areas of the field. His scientific achievements have resulted in the Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award, from the Health Physics Society in 1990, to recognize his research associated with lung cancer.

Herman had been assistant professor, then associate professor, of Industrial Hygiene at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health from 1951 to 1960. He then went to the University of Cincinnati and served as associate professor of Industrial Health in the College of Medicine for five years-where he continued his teaching and research. In 1964, he became full professor of civil engineering at Northwestern University, where he directed the academic programs in Health Physics and Industrial Hygiene, as he continues to do today. During his long and successful academic career, Herman has always loved to help his students. He has an informal teaching style and welcomes all kind of questions. In fact, the only question he does not like is will this be on the test? He has encouraged students to do what they enjoy because they enjoy it, not for the money, since one third of a person's lifetime will be spent at work.

He has produced more than seventy publications. His book, Introduction to Health Physics, has been used widely as a primary textbook in the radiological health field and has been translated into Russian and Chinese. In addition to all of the foregoing research and publishing activities, he has been an active participant in international organizations. He spent a year as a technical expert in occupational health at the International Labour Office in Geneva in 1961.

Herman is currently a professor emeritus of the Department of Civil Engineering in Northwestern University and a visiting professor of the School of Health Sciences at Purdue University. He has been chairperson of the HPS summer school and presented numerous PEP courses at the annual Health Physics Society meetings.

Today, the American Academy of Health Physics and American Board of Health Physics are proud to honor and recognize the dedication, excellence, and continued contributions to the research, practice, and advancement of the profession of health physics and the certification process. I take great pride and privilege in presenting the 2003 William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to Dr. Herman Cember.

John A. Serabian, Jr, Vice Chair ABHP