School of Health Sciences - Paul L. Ziemer
2001 Distinguished Alumnus

Professor Paul L. Ziemer received a bachelor of science in physics from Wheaton College (Illinois) in 1957. He then served as a physicist at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., a radiological physics fellow at Vanderbilt University, and a health physicist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He earned a master of science in radiological physics from Vanderbilt University in 1959.

Professor Ziemer then joined Purdue University's bionucleonics department as a doctoral student, completing his degree in 1962. Concurrently with his doctoral studies, he served as a radiological control officer at Purdue, a position he held as he rose through the academic ranks of assistant professor (1962), associate professor (1966), and full professor (1969). In 1983, he was named head of the School of Health Sciences, a position he held until December, 31, 2000.

During his 42 years at Purdue, Professor Ziemer has been directly involved in the undergraduate- and graduate-level instruction of more than 400 individuals who are currently active in the health physics profession. He served as major professor for 30 Ph.D. and 33 M.S. students. As head of the School of Health Sciences, Professor Ziemer was administratively responsible for teaching and research programs in industrial hygiene and occupational health, health physics, medical physics, environmental health, and medical technology. From August 1990 to January 1993, Professor Ziemer took a leave of absence from Purdue to serve in the first Bush administration as the assistant secretary of energy for environment, safety, and health. He was responsible for overseeing all radiological, safety, and health activities for the Department of Energy, including compliance with laws related to environmental protection and worker health and safety.

From 1994 to 1998, Professor Ziemer served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR-VI Committee) to review the health risks of exposure to radon. The reports from that committee have worldwide influence, as they provide the basic data summaries upon which legislation for radiation safety is built.

A certified health physicist, Professor Ziemer has been president of the Health Physics Society and of the American Academy of Health Physics. He recently completed a term as a member of the American Board of Health Physics, and he is currently a member of the Health Physics Society, International Radiation Protection Association, American Association for Advancement of Science, Campus Radiation Safety Officers, Sigma Xi, Sigma Pi Sigma, Rho Chi, and Eta Sigma Gamma.

Professor Ziemer has extensive consulting experience in the field of health physics, including 16 years as principal consultant and officer of Midwest Radiation Protection Inc. of Bloomington, Indiana.

Currently, he is serving as consultant and chairman of the board of Advanced Technologies & Laboratories (ATL) International Inc. of Germantown, Maryland. He also serves on the Environment, Safety, and Health Division review committee for Los Alamos National Laboratory; on the Environmental Technology Division review committee for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; and on the scientific advisory committee for the international Radioecology Laboratory in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Professor Ziemer has been awarded the Elda E. Anderson Award by the Health Physics Society and the Tony and Mary Hulman Award by the Indiana Public Health Foundation. He has been a Sigma Xi national lecturer, the R. S. Landauer lecturer for the Health Physics Society, and the G. William Morgan lecturer for the Health Physics Society. In 2001, he received the Health Phvsics Societv Founder Award.

Professor Ziemer has published more than 100 papers and book chapters dealing with various aspects of health physics and bionucleonics. His current research activities are directed toward radiation dosimetry and environmental radon risks. He also jointly holds one U.S. patent for a microwave dosimeter utilizing thermoluminescent materials.