Scholarships

Saul Levine Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Nuclear Installations Safety Division has established a Saul Levine Memorial Scholarship Fund, to be used to support the graduate education of worthy nuclear engineering students. Saul Levine was one of the pioneers in understanding the safety of nuclear reactors.  One of his most prominent contributions was supporting Professor Norman Rasmussen in directing the pioneering “Reactor Safety Study” (WASH-1400) in 1973-1975.  Rasmussen wrote a marvelous eulogy for Levine that was published in the Proceedings of ANS Topical Meeting “PSA’85”, which was held 20 years ago, shortly after Saul’s premature death. Rasmussen’s eulogy is reprinted below in its entirety as perhaps the best way to convey the importance of Saul’s contribution to the early discipline of PSA:
“I knew Saul Levine for nearly 30 years. However, it was during the work on the “Reactor Safety Study” that we became close friends.  The smartest decision I ever made was to ask then Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission James Schlesinger to assign Saul to help me direct that effort.  Although I thought very highly of Saul at that time, I soon came to realize that I had underrated him.  I know of no one who had a better insight into the broad issues of reactor safety.  In addition, he had the ability to organize and carry out a major project within the constraints of the government bureaucracy — a know-how that I lacked and which was essential to the success of that project.  As we all know, the final report of the project, the “Reactor Safety Study” (WASH-1400), is sometimes referred to as the Rasmussen Report.  It more properly should be referred to as the Levine-Rasmussen report. “

History tells us that Newton once said, “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants.”  During the work on the Safety Study I developed my own variation on that quote, which is, “If you are facing a difficult problem, it is a lot easier if you have a giant working at your side.”  To me, Saul was a giant, both technically and personally.  Our profession has lost one of its important contributors and one of its best thinkers on our most difficult problems.  In addition, a great many of us have lost a valued personal friend.  “We shall sorely miss him, but the impact he had on each of us who were his friends will always be with us,”  Norman C. Rasmussen.

Tax-deductible donations to the Saul Levine Memorial Scholarship Fund may be made by personal check, made out to American Nuclear Society. Please, mark on the check: “for the Saul Levine Memorial Scholarship Fund”. Send it to:
American Nuclear Society
97781 Eagle Way
Chicago, IL 60678-9770, USA

Raymond DiSalvo Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Nuclear Installations Safety Division supports the Raymond DiSalvo Memorial Scholarship Fund, to be used to aid the undergraduate education of worthy nuclear engineering students. DiSalvo, an atomic safety specialist, was part of the team that sought to control damage at the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania in 1979.  An expert in reactor safety, he also conducted research in ways to prevent and limit damage in toxic chemical accidents.
Raymond DiSalvo joined the American Nuclear Society in 1974 and very quickly became an active and important participant in their technical conferences.  He was highly respected by his colleagues for his expertise in several areas on nuclear energy such as risk assessment, human factors, and waste management.  His contributions to the ANS went beyond the purely technical realm to include leadership and governance.  He was very active in the ANS Nuclear Reactor Safety Division as a member of both the Program Committee and the Executive Committee. Raymond DiSalvo died on October 26, 1990 at the age of 44.
Tax-deductible donations to the Raymond DiSalvo Memorial Scholarship Fund may be made by personal check, made out to American Nuclear Society.  Please, mark on the check: “for the Raymond DiSalvo Memorial Scholarship Fund”.  Send it to:
American Nuclear Society
97781 Eagle Way
Chicago, IL 60678-9770, USA