Career
The at the University of Rochester was a graduate teaching program The project had three divisions. William Freer Bale headed the Radiology and Biophysics division that worked largely on radioactive materials—for example, radium, radon, plutonium, and polonium.
James Newell Stannard was responsible for 2 sections, the Radiation Toxicology section and the Radioautography section.
Harold Hodge headed the Pharmacology and Toxicology division that focused on Uranium including inhalation studies. Joe West. Howland, Doctor of Medicine headed the clinically oriented Medical Services division.
Mermagen worked in the Medical Physics section as a radiological physicist, known today as a health physicist. Served on the, Board of Directors from 1955-1957.
In the midyear issue of Science the announcement came of the formation new national scientific organization for health physicists at the 3 day Health Physics Conference at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio on 14 June 1955.
The organization was temporarily named "", and Karl Z. Morgan of the Health Physics Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory was elected interim president Other interim officers were: Frederick P. Cowan, Head, Health Physics Division Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, vice president, and Elda East. Anderson, director of the education and training department of the Health Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, secretary-treasurer. First Board of Directors Talks regarding the formation of a professional society had been ongoing for several years.
The health physicists had decided to form an independent organization rather than attach to an existing group.
Directors of the included: Herbert Mermagen, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York Edgar Charles Barnes, manager of industrial hygiene, Westinghouse Atomic Power Division, Bettis Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania John West. "Jack" Healy, General Electric Company, Hanford, Washington William Taylor Ham, professor of biophysics, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia C. Maurice Patterson, DuPont Atomic Energy Plant, Aiken, South Carolina (U.S.) G. West. C. Tait, Health Physics Branch, Atomic Energy Company of Canada, Limited., Chalk River, Ontario, Canada Francis J. Bradley, superintendent of radiation safety at Ohio State University and organizer of the first Conference William East. Nolan, Radiation Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California Walter Dunhan Claus, (annual salary $12,000), Division of Biology and Medicine, Biophysics Branch, United States. Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, District of Columbia John East. Pickering, department of radiobiology, School of Aviation Medicine, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.
