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Toohey Named President-Elect of National Health Physics Society

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 6, 2007
FY07-15

OAK RIDGE, Tenn.—Dr. Richard E. Toohey was recently named President-elect of the national Health Physics Society (HPS). Toohey is currently the Director of Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ (ORAU) Dose Reconstruction Programs and serves as the Senior Science Advisor under ORAU’s contract to assist the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in conducting scientific-based radiation dose reconstructions as part of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program (EEOICPA).

Toohey’s term as president will last three years: one year as President-elect, one year as president and one year as past-President. His responsibilities will include visiting as many of the 40 local chapters of HPS across the country as possible to assess the state of the society as well as the profession of health physics, and making national committee appointments for the following year. The HPS president is Chair of the organization’s Board of Directors, and represents the HPS to other professional societies, government officials, educational institutions, industry and stakeholder groups, and the public.

“It is a tremendous honor to be elected by your peers to lead and represent them,” says Toohey. “I see it as a chance to give something back to a profession that has been very good to me.”

Toohey received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cincinnati in 1973 and has more than 30 years of experience in the health physics field. He first joined the ranks at ORAU in 1994 as Director of the Radiation Internal Dose Information Center. In 1998 he was named Senior Health Physicist for the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS). At REAC/TS, Toohey led dose assessment and reconstruction efforts in order to identify the amount of radiation to which accident victims were exposed.