Ronald Collé (born February 11, 1946) is a specialist in nuclear and radiochemistry, radionuclidic

metrology Metrology is the scientific study of measurement. It establishes a common understanding of Unit of measurement, units, crucial in linking human activities. Modern metrology has its roots in the French Revolution's political motivation to stan ...

, and the development of standards. He has worked at the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

(

NIST The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

) from 1976 to 2003 and from 2005 to present, and currently serves as a research chemist in the Radioactivity Group of the NIST Physics Laboratory (Ionizing Radiation Division). Previously, he held research positions at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

. He received a B.Sc. in chemistry from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

in 1969, a Ph.D. in chemistry (nuclear and radiochemistry) from

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

in 1972, and an M.S. Adm. (Administration of Science and Technology) from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in 1979. Collé and his collaborators have maintained, expanded and improved

radioactivity Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

measurement standards for

radium Radium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in alkaline earth metal, group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, ...

-226 and

radon Radon is a chemical element; it has symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive noble gas and is colorless and odorless. Of the three naturally occurring radon isotopes, only Rn has a sufficiently long half-life (3.825 days) for it to b ...

-222 to address the requirements to measure these

nuclide Nuclides (or nucleides, from nucleus, also known as nuclear species) are a class of atoms characterized by their number of protons, ''Z'', their number of neutrons, ''N'', and their nuclear energy state. The word ''nuclide'' was coined by the A ...

s in

drinking water Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

. Collé and collaborators developed methods to analyse and standardize

brachytherapy Brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy where a sealed radiation, radiation source is placed inside or next to the area requiring treatment. The word "brachytherapy" comes from the Ancient Greek, Greek word , meaning "short-distance" or "s ...

sources, pellets of radioactive material designed to be implanted in the body at site requiring direct radiation exposure. An important part of

and standards development is understanding and taking into account uncertainties that are inherent in the instruments or that arise from methodology. Collé co-authored a paper with Churchill Eisenhart and Harry Ku, which was the forerunner of the 1993

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

''Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement''. Collé has published over ninety research papers, and from 1999 through 2004 was an associate editor of the '' Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology''.

References

External links

NIST profile
21st-century American physicists American nuclear physicists Living people Georgia Tech alumni George Washington University alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni 1946 births