Society News Archive

22 March 2014
On the Passing of David Sowby, Past Scientific Secretary of ICRP

An international icon in radiation protection, (Francis) David Sowby died peacefully on Wednesday, 12 March 2014.

David became the scientific secretary of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in 1961 and remained in the service of ICRP for 24 years.

During his long tenure as scientific secretary, David developed all the necessary administrative routines, improved the base of funding bodies contributing to the financing of ICRP, and considerably extended the number of formal links with the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations, and other organizations. He participated very actively in making ICRP, a truly international organization. During his tenure, ICRP created its own journal, the Annals of the ICRP.

David was involved in the scientific projects of ICRP and contributed much to the drafting of many reports, including the 1977 Recommendations of International Commission on Radiological Protection (Publication 26, the basis of the system of radiological protection). He was a founding member of the Society for Radiological Protection and was a corresponding member of the Health Physics Society until his retirement in 1985.

A more detailed tribute to David can be found on the ICRP website.