EDWARD R. EPP

EPP, Edward R. PhD Professor of Radiation Oncology, Emeritus, Harvard University, beloved husband of Shirley Mae Epp, R.N., and son of the late Abram and Catherine (nee Janzen) Epp, passed away on November 29, 2021 in Needham, MA. Born on July 21, 1929 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, he obtained his M.A. in Physics with High Honors in 1952 from the University of Saskatchewan. He served on the National Research Council of Canada from 1952-1953 and obtained his doctorate in Nuclear Physics from McGill University in 1955. After serving two years as Physicist, Department of Radiology, Montreal General Hospital, he worked at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City where he became Member with a concurrent appointment as Professor of Biophysics at Cornell University over the period 1957-1974. Subsequently he was appointed as Head of Radiation Biophysics at the Massachusetts General Hospital and as Professor of Radiation Oncology, Harvard University in 1975 until his retirement at the end of 1997. His research interests included radiation physics and dosimetry, radiation biophysics and mechanisms of radiation action on living cells. His research specialized on mechanistic aspects of ultrahigh intensity pulsed radiation in the presence of oxygen and other chemical radiosensitizers with a view to improving the radiation treatment of cancer. He was a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine. He served as President of the Radiation Research Society and on a number of committees of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Cancer Institute. After retirement in 1997 he was the Failla Memorial Lecturer for the Greater New York Chapter of the Health Physics Society in association with the Radiation and Medical Physics Society of New York. From 1998-2004 he served on the Board of Radiation Effects Research of the National Academy of Sciences. He also served on the Committee on Alternatives for Controlling the Release of Solid Materials from NRC-Licensed Facilities (2000-2002) and on the Committee to Assure the Safety of the Defense Department's Mail (2003-2004). He was a member of the Department of Veteran's Affairs Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards from 2002 to 2018. Having a lifelong interest in tournament chess, he was awarded the title of National Master in 1991 by the United States Chess Federation. He was a member of the Manhattan Chess Club in New York City and of the Metrowest Chess Club in Natick, MA. A church Service will be held at Christ Church in Needham, MA on Thursday, December 2nd at 11AM. Dr. Epp's burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory to the American Cancer Society would be greatly appreciated. Henry J. Burke & Sons BurkeFamilyFuneralHomes.com