David J. Fauth

David “Dave” Fauth and his four siblings—Preacher’s kids—all graduated from Norwin. He performed in the junior class play and lettered in baseball, and was a member of the 1969 region champs who reached the WPIAL semifinals. Dave then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry and six varsity letters in cross country and baseball at Thiel College in 1973. He went on to the University of South Carolina, earning a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry.

In September 1978, he began work as a nuclear/radiochemist at the DuPont Savannah River National Laboratory in Aiken, SC, studying the long-term migration of radioactive species from shallow buried low-level nuclear waste. He later moved to manage plant laboratories in the chemical separation and tritium production facilities. In 1990, he transferred to the Westinghouse Nuclear Facility in West Valley, NY, serving as the Plant Analytical/Environmental Lab Manager.

He returned to the Savannah River Site in 1992 as the Lab Director of the Radiobioassay/Industrial Hygiene Lab. He serves on the Department of Energy Radiobioassay Lab Accreditation Board. In 2007, he returned to the National Lab organization to work in the field of nuclear forensics and helped the lab gain accreditation of their facilities that support FBI field investigations. He has authored a number of publications in the fields of environmental radiochemistry and health physics. He also served as secretary for National Environmental Lab Accreditation working group, writing quality assurance standards. In 2018, he was awarded the Radiochemistry Society Founders Award for scientific leadership and contributions to the science.

Retiring in 2011, he works with the Savannah River Site Retiree Association, helping retirees/spouses maintain their benefits and navigate Medicare among other retirement needs. He served in a number of roles for this 13,000-member group, including board chairman for four years. He also is a 25-year member of the South Carolina Basketball Officials Association and recently completed a two-year term as president of this 700-member organization. He has officiated several state championship games and the South Carolina-North Carolina All-Star game in 2017. He also serves as head judge for the regional science fair, assists with STEM education, and the Aiken County United Way.

He and his wife, Lynne, have raised two daughters: Laura, a teacher and basketball/softball coach in Stafford, Virginia, and Jennifer, a lieutenant colonel/battalion commander at Fort Bragg, NC. They have two grandchildren.