E. Gail de Planque
Eileen Gail de Planque (also Eileen Gail de Planque Burke, best known as E. Gail de Planque; 1944 – September 8, 2010) was an American nuclear physicist. An expert on environmental radiation measurements, she was the first woman and first health physicist to become a Commissioner at the US government's Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).[1] Her technical areas of expertise included environmental radiation, nuclear facilities monitoring, personnel dosimetry, radiation shielding, radiation transport, and solid state dosimetry.[2][3]
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Career
Born in New Jersey and raised in Maryland,[4] Planque earned her bachelor's degree from Immaculata College (Mathematics, 1967), Master's degree from the Newark College of Engineering (Physics, 1973), and PhD from New York University (Environmental health science, 1983).[3][5] From 1967 until 1982, she worked as a physicist for the Atomic Energy Commission.[6] She joined the Environmental Measurements Laboratory, US Department of Energy as its deputy director in 1982, and was promoted to director five years later. From 1991-95, she was a member of the NRC. In 1997, Planque chaired a planning committee, Celebration of Women in Engineering, which developed conferences that encouraged women to choose careers in engineering and included the development of the website EngineerGirl.[3]
A Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Planque was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering,[7] Association of Women in Science, and the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. She served as president of the ANS (1988–89),[4] and Health Physics Society; as well as the co-chair of Committee for International Intercomparison of Environmental Dosimeters. In the late 1970s, Planque was a US expert delegate to the international committee for Development of an International Standard on Thermoluminescence Dosimetry.[3]
Personal life
Planque was married to Frank Burke.[8] She lived in New York City,[9] and Potomac, Maryland.[10] Planque died in 2010.
Awards
- 1990, Women of Achievement in Energy award
- 1991, Outstanding Woman Scientist of the Year award
- 2003, Henry DeWolf Smyth Award for Nuclear Statesmanship
- 2004, Women in Technology International Hall of Fame inductees
References
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- 1944 births
- 2010 deaths
- People from New Jersey
- American nuclear physicists
- Women physicists
- Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials
- Immaculata University alumni
- New Jersey Institute of Technology alumni
- New York University alumni
- Health physicists
- Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 20th-century women scientists
- 21st-century women scientists
