Partnerships for Innovation
Faces of ORAU
ORAU’s Mission has Prospered Due to Remarkable Contributions by its Early Leaders
The halls of Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), which was originally chartered as the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (ORINS) are lined with photos that capture the faces of the many great men and women who have contributed significantly to our nation’s progress in many areas—medical research, science education, and professional development and training, to name just a few.
We invite you to get to know a sampling of the people who have made an impact on the history of ORAU through the following profiles.
Dr. Gould Andrews
Director of the Medical Division
Dr. Gould Andrews, a widely respected hematologist and internist known for his hope and concern for his patients, led the Medical Division during which programs devoted to cytogenetics electron microscopy were initiated.
Dr. Marshall Brucer
Chairman of the Medical Division
Under Dr. Marshall Brucer’s strong leadership, the Medical Division and its programs received international attention as researchers investigated nearly 70 different radioactive isotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic uses.
Roger Cloutier
Director of Professional Training Programs
Roger Cloutier was instrumental in obtaining funding for ORAU’s Radiation Internal Dose Information Center (RIDIC) and later led the organization’s professional training programs, which offered courses in radioisotope techniques to scientists and physicians.
Dr. William Felling
Executive Director of ORAU
Significant milestones were achieved during Dr. William Felling’s tenure, including the addition of the Comparative Animal Research Laboratory, and the groundbreaking for a new office auditorium complex on the ORAU campus.
Dr. Shirley Fry
Assistant Director of the Medical Sciences Division
Dr. Shirley Fry directed several important programs, including the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS), the Center for Epidemiologic Research (CER), and the cytogenetics program.
Dr. Paul Gross
President of ORAU
ORAU founder Dr. William G. Pollard once wrote, “The leadership [that] Paul Gross gave ORINS as president for the next 21 years [after ORINS was founded in 1946] was a major factor in its growth and competence.”
Dr. Philip Johnson
Executive Director of ORAU
During Dr. Philip Johnson's seven-year tenure, the organization grew and a number of new programs were added, including an assessment project on how carbon dioxide emissions affect the atmosphere.
Dr. C.C. Lushbaugh
Chairman of the Medical and Health Sciences Division
As the first director of REAC/TS, Dr. C.C. Lushbaugh’s studies focused on human pathology and have contributed greatly to the understanding of areas such as the pathology and the use of radiation for the treatment of disease.
Ann H. Patton
Executive Assistant to the President and Corporate Secretary
Ann H. Patton began her tenure in the President’s Office in 1968 and spent the next 42 years making sure that ORAU’s affairs ran smoothly.
Dr. William G. Pollard
Founder and Executive Director of ORINS
After a conversation with a fellow physics professor at a dinner party one evening, Dr. William G. Pollard successfully built the necessary support of both the federal government and 14 southern schools to form of the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (ORINS), which is now known as ORAU.
Dr. Fred Snyder
Director of the Biochemistry Program
Under Dr. Fred Snyder’s direction, the now discontinued biochemistry program discovered in the late 1960s that ether lipids (fatty substances) are more common in cancer cells, which provided important information used by numerous other groups in investigating the role of lipids and membranes in cancer.
Dr. Oscar Touster
President of ORAU
Recognized for his contributions to the field of molecular biology, Dr. Oscar Touster became ORAU president after serving in several roles associated with the organization’s Board of Directors and Council of Sponsoring Institutions.
Dr. Jon Veigel
Executive Director of ORAU
Under Dr. Jon Veigel’s guidance, ORAU’s university consortium rapidly grew from 49 member universities in 1988, to 89 full members and eight associated members in 1996.
Dr. Alvin Weinberg
Director of the Institute for Energy Analysis
Weinberg served as director of ORAU’s Institute for Energy Analysis (IEA), which pioneered investigations of the greenhouse effect, alternate energy sources, and maximizing energy sources at minimum cost to the economy and the environment.
Evelyn Watson
Director of the Radiation Internal Dose Information Center
Succeeding longtime mentor Roger Cloutier as program director of RIDIC, Evelyn Watson managed a staff dedicated to improving internal radiation dosimetry and ensuring the accessibility of information about radiation dose from radionuclides incorporated in the body.