Dr. Niel Wald

WALD: Dr. Niel Wald, who was at the forefront of treatment for those exposed to radiation, creating and heading his own department at the University of Pittsburgh, died on November 28, 2015, at the Charles Morris Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Squirrel Hill.  He had been in declining health since suffering a fall in late May. He was 90 and had been living with his wife Lucienne in Highland Park. Dr. Wald received a medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine. He served in the U.S. Air Force as a flight surgeon and research radiobiologist, was senior hematologist at the National Academy of Sciences Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Hiroshima and head biologist at the Health Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Since 1958, Dr. Wald worked at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health as professor of radiation health, professor of environmental and occupational health, and professor of human genetics and radiology, retiring as a professor emeritus in 2004. He was as an editor or officer for several professional societies: the Health Physics Society, the Radiation Research Society, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and the American Public Health Association. He had been honored with a British Royal Society of Medicine Visiting American Professorship, U.S. Department of Energy Health Physics Faculty Research Award and the American Medical Association Award for 50 Years Service to Medicine. His research interests included the effects of radiation on populations and chromosome changes associated with cancer. Dr. Wald is survived by his wife, his son David, granddaughter Esther, his sister Judy, and numerous nieces and nephews. A second son, Phillip, died in 1986.

Get The Jewish Chronicle Weekly Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up