Dr. Wayne Newhauser (Class of 1982), a native of Shorewood, Wisconsin, graduated from Shorewood High School in 1982. After earning a B.S. degree in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison (UW), he worked for the State of Wisconsin's radiation protection unit, then returned to the UW to earn an M.S. degree in Health Physics and a Ph.D. degree in Medical Physics. Subsequently, he held appointments at Germany's national standards laboratory (Physikalish-Technische Bundesanstalt) in Braunschweig, and he was appointed to positions at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), Harvard Medical School (Cambridge), University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston), and Louisiana State University and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (Baton Rouge). He has played leadership roles in the construction and operation of proton radiation therapy centers, major research projects, and scientific societies, such as the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the American Nuclear Society, and the Health Physics Society. He was elected to serve as a council member of the National Council on Radiation Protection, which was chartered by the United States Congress. He has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed scientific research papers on advanced-technology cancer radiotherapies, radiation physics, and applications of physics and supercomputing to improve the survival of cancer patients. He holds certification from the American Board of Radiology in therapeutic physics and has provided care to patients who received stereotactic radiosurgery. He has advised more than 50 trainees, including 17 students who earned their M.S. and Ph.D. degrees under his mentorship. He has received several awards and honors, including being named a Fellow of the AAPM. He currently serves as a tenured professor of Physics and Astronomy, holds the Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics, and directs a graduate education program in Medical Physics and Health Physics at LSU, which is internationally known for its education and research programs. His favorite professional activities are mentoring graduate students and teaching courses in radiation physics and radiation biology.
