Retired radioactive materials researcher joins Thiel College Board of Trustees

Posted December 11, 2023 Print

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Thiel College graduate David Fauth, Ph.D. ’73, a leading expert in the study of radioactive materials and a former U.S. Department of Energy researcher, recently began his first term as a member of the Thiel College Board of Trustees.

Fauth just completed a term on the U.S. Department of Energy Radiobioassay Laboratory Accreditation Board. He worked as lab director for the radiobioassay laboratory at the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Plant in Aiken, S.C. and was laboratory manager at the West Valley Demonstration Project in West Valley, N.Y. Fauth served as board chairman for the Savannah River Site Retiree Association and past chair for the Savannah River Section of the American Chemical Society. He is treasurer for the Radiobioassay & Radiochemical Measurements Conference and a member of the Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness organization in Aiken.

Fauth began work as a nuclear/radiochemist in 1978 with DuPont. In 2007, he joined the Savannah River National Laboratory to work in the field of nuclear forensics and helped the lab gain national accreditation for lab facilities that support FBI field investigations. He has authored several publications in the fields of environmental radiochemistry and radiation health physics. He also served as secretary for the National Environmental Lab Accreditation working group, writing quality assurance standards. In 2018, he was awarded the Radiochemistry Society Founders Award for scientific leadership and contributions to the science and was given distinguished alumni awards from Thiel in 2018 and Norwin High School (Irwin, PA) in 2023.

He has officiated scholastic basketball for 25 years including state championships and was president for the 700-member South Carolina Basketball Officials Association during the recent COVID years. He is a career professional for the United Way of Aiken County, S.C and provides Medicare benefits assistance to seniors in the Central Savannah River Area as a state-certified health insurance program councilor. He has serve as head high school judge for the Georgia- South Carolina regional science fair for the last 10 years.

Fauth earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry in 1973 at Thiel and graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1978 with a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry. Fauth and his wife, Lynne, live in Aiken, S.C. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight of Thiel College. The Board adopts rules, regulations and policies governing Thiel College and has authority over curricular development, use of property, development of facilities and fiscal and human resources management. The Board of Trustees meets formally three times a year on campus.