Richard L Blanchard

Dr. Richard L. “Dick” Blanchard, was born in Hutchinson, KS, on May 2, 1933 and died on September 16 at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, AL. Dick graduated from Hutchinson High School in 1951 and Hutchinson Junior College in 1953. He played varsity football and basketball in high school and basketball in junior college. Dick was selected a Junior Rotarian in his sophomore year at JUCO and attended meetings of the Hutchinson Rotary Club during that year. Dick graduated from Fort Hays Kansas State College in 1955 with a Bachelor Degree in chemistry and attended Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN on a radiological physics fellowship from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Dick received his Masters Degree in physics from Vanderbilt in 1958 and proceeded on to Washington University in St. Louis where he received his Doctorate in radiochemistry in 1963.

Dr. Blanchard served in the U.S. Public Health Service for 27 years where he performed and directed research in environmental radioactivity and occupational radiation exposures. He presented his work at numerous symposia, both in the United States and abroad, and published more than 60 technical papers in the scientific literature. During this time, Dr. Blanchard participated in the nuclear weapons tests, both at the Nevada and Pacific test sites, directed the Radiochemistry and Nuclear Engineering Facility in Cincinnati, OH, and, as an adjunct professor, taught radiochemistry in the graduate school at Cincinnati University and general college chemistry at Auburn University at Montgomery. He received the U.S. Public Health Service’s Meritorious Service Medal in 1979. Dr. Blanchard served his last six years with the U.S. Public Health Service at the Southeastern Radiological Health Laboratory in Montgomery, AL, where he retired in 1983. For the next 14 years, Dr. Blanchard worked in his home in Montgomery, AL as a private consultant in environmental radiation assessment, radiochemical methodologies, and as a member of a number of peer review groups reviewing radiation standards, radiation hazards in uranium mines and in the vicinity of nuclear power plants and other nuclear facilities. Dr. Blanchard was a member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, the Health Physics Society, a fellow of the American Institute of Chemists, and served as President of the Cincinnati Chapter of the Research Society of North America. Dr. Blanchard was the recipient of the 2005 Founder’s Award presented at the 50th Annual Conference on Bioassay, Analytical and Environmental Radiochemistry for “inspirational leadership and meritorious scientific contributions.” In 1996, Dr. Blanchard ended his consulting career and took a part-time position as the Quality Control Officer and Senior Radiochemist at the Southeastern Environmental Radiation Laboratory in Montgomery, AL. Dr. Blanchard will be buried in the Buhler Municipal Cemetery West in Buhler, KS, with a graveside service at 11:00 AM on Tuesday with Elliott Mortuary, Hutchinson, KS directing. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Norma Whitlow Blanchard of Montgomery, AL; two children, Mark Blanchard of Haines, AK, and Laura Blanchard of Hancock, ME; a grandson, Sam Mathews of Ft. Wright, KY; a brother, Dr. Robert Blanchard of San Diego, CA; three stepchildren, William Brand, Jeffrey Brand and Kaye Horn of Mayfield, KY; and two step-grandchildren, Max Brand and Bridge Horn of Mayfield, KY. A visitation will be Saturday, September 18, 2010 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Leak-Memory Chapel. The family requests the omission of flowers. Arrangements under the direction of Leak Memory Chapel, Montgomery, AL.