ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Charles Potter, a certified health physicist at Sandia National Laboratories, was elected president of the American Academy of Health Physics, an organization that supports certified health physicists and the profession’s certification process.
Potter previously served as the organization’s parliamentarian for three years, and as president, he plans to update and streamline the profession’s recertification process.
Potter is an internationally recognized expert on the measurement and impact assessment of radiation dose to humans. He serves as the vice chairman for the HPS N13 standards committee that develops standards for radiation protection and participates in three working groups for the International Organization for Standardization focused on measuring external radiation exposure, radiation exposure through inhalation or ingestion, and also monitoring radiation dose exposure for large groups of people following an adverse event.
At Sandia, Potter studies the effects and consequences of nuclear and radiological terrorism and develops system solutions for national security challenges. He recently worked on a study that considered how emerging technologies may be used to either aid or prevent radiological terrorism. The team compared and ranked technologies based on how they might be used by adversaries to access and steal radiological materials and then considered how they could also help mitigate threats and enhance security.
Potter is the lead author on 17 scientific articles on operational radiation dosimetry, biological research and national security. He is also a fellow of the Health Physics Society and a founding member of the Department of Energy’s Laboratory Accreditation Program’s Radiobioassay Oversight Board, which reviews all applications to accredit DOE laboratories to test human waste for radiation. He also has worked with the International Atomic Energy Agency and other organizations on radiological security.
Potter is an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico’s Department of Nuclear Engineering where he teaches a graduate-level course on internal radiation dosimetry.
Potter holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from Trenton State College, now named the College of New Jersey. He received a master’s and doctorate in radiation health from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
He serves as president-elect until he begins his term Jan. 1, 2022.