The Health Physics Society (HPS) is a nonprofit scientific professional organization whose mission is excellence in the science and practice of

radiation safety Radiation protection, also known as radiological protection, is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as "The protection of people from harmful effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, and the means for achieving this". Expos ...

. It is based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and the specific purposes of the society's activities include encouraging research in radiation science, developing standards, and disseminating radiation safety information. Society members are involved in understanding, evaluating, and controlling potential risks from radiation relative to the benefits. The Society was formed in 1955, with an organizational meeting in June, 1955 at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

Columbus, Ohio. As of 2013, the membership consists of approximately 5,500 scientists, physicians, engineers, and other professionals. The headquarters are in

McLean, VA McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its proxim ...

. The society is an affiliate of the

American Institute of Physics The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...

Activities

It publishes ''

Health Physics Health physics, also referred to as the science of radiation protection, is the profession devoted to protecting people and their environment from potential radiation hazards, while making it possible to enjoy the beneficial uses of radiation. H ...

'' since 1958, a peer-reviewed scientific journal; ''Health Physics News'' for material of interest to members, and ''Operational Radiation Safety''. It operates a public information website, "Radiation Answers", and has begun a series of special publications (The first, ''Radiation and Risk: Expert Perspectives'' was published in March 2012.) It holds its annual meeting in July, and a mid-year meeting in January or February. The society's archives are held at the

University of Tennessee, Knoxville The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

Organization

The society has 37 geographically based chapters, all in the United States, except for one chapter in the

Georgian Republic Georgia (, ; ) is a transcontinental country at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, by Russia to the north and northeast, by Turkey to the southwest ...

and one in Taiwan; there are 8 Sections on special interests.

Awards

* Robley D. Evans Commemorative Medal *Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award * Elda E. Anderson Award *Founders Award *Fellow Award *Distinguished Public Service Award * Geoffrey G. Eichholz Outstanding Science Teacher Award *National Student Science Award *Health Physics Honor Roll * G. William Morgan Lectureship Award * Robert S. Landauer Sr., Lectureship Award * Dade Moeller Lectureship Award

Meetings

The first annual meeting was held in 1956 at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and these meetings have been held every year since in different US cities.

History

A new national scientific organization for health physicists was founded at a 3-day health physics conference at

on 14 June 1955. The organization was temporarily named "Health Physics Society", and Karl Z. Morgan of the Health Physics Division of

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. multiprogram science and technology national laboratory sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and administered, managed, and operated by UT–Battelle as a federally funded research an ...

was elected interim president. Other interim officers were Frederick P. Cowan (vice president) and Elda E. Anderson (secretary-treasurer).

References

External links

*
Radiation Answers
an information web site for the general public operated by the society
American Institute of Physics
{{Authority control Organizations established in 1955 Physics organizations 1955 establishments in Ohio Radiation protection