Board of Directors

Robert Alvarez MA is a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington. Previously, he served the U.S. Energy Department, Standing for Truth About Radiation, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs headed by Senator John Glenn. He is co-author of Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America’s Experience with Atomic Radiation (1982). Mr. Alvarez is also an adjunct lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. 

Christie Brinkley is a highly successful model and actress, who has been involved in environmental causes for many years. She was a Board member of Standing for Truth About Radiation, which helped close the Brookhaven reactors on Long Island. She testified to Congress about the safety and health hazards of radiation. She also helped present results of the landmark 2000 RPHP article showing when nuclear plants close, local rates of infant deaths and cancer cases in young children plunge soon after.

Lewis Cuthbert is a former teacher, principal, superintendent, and college professor (in education). With his late wife Donna, he founded (and is President of) the Alliance for a Clean Environment in Pottstown PA, a citizens group concerned with environmental issues. He played a key role in collecting teeth for the RPHP Tooth Fairy Project, written op-ed pieces about the Limerick nuclear plant, and joined RPHP in several of its press conferences.

Karl Grossman MA is a professor of journalism at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. He writes TV documentaries produced by New York-based EnviroVideo. He has written magazine and newspaper articles for publications including The New York Times, USA Today, The Christian Scientist Monitor, and Newsday. He is the author of six books, including The Wrong Stuff: The Space Program’s Nuclear Threat to Our Planet (1997) and Weapons in Space (2001).

Mark Meinberg CPA  is a retired accountant, and was a partner in the Eisner Amper firm, Syosset NY. He had known RPHP leaders and their work for many years.

Susan Shapiro JD is an attorney and a long time environmental activist. Her primary focus has been the Indian Point nuclear plant, located just 35 miles north of Manhattan. She is also a Board member of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater environmental group. She has been involved in numerous legal actions to stop polluters. She has spoken at RPHP press conferences, and instituted the citizen radiation monitoring program near Indian Point.

Lisa Martino-Taylor is a professor of sociology at Southern Illinois University. She worked as a professional researcher on environmental threats, including nuclear facilities, and in law on hazardous waste/toxic tort cases, representing child plaintiffs. Most of her publications are oriented to environmental justice, including nuclear power. She is the author of the book Behind the Fog (2013), an analysis of Cold War-era radiation studies conducted by the U.S. military.

FORMER DIRECTORS:

Ernest Sternglass PhD (1923-2015), was a radiation physicist who also served RPHP since its inception in 1989. He was professor emeritus of radiological physics at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Sternglass testified before the U.S. Senate in support of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963. He has written numerous articles in scientific journals and was the author of Secret Fallout: Low Level Radiation from Hiroshima to Three Mile Island (1981).

David Friedson (1955-2014), was a New York businessman and CEO of Applica Inc. He met RPHP founder Jay Gould in the 1980s, and became interested in the radiation health issue. He was a founding member of Standing for the Truth About Radiation, which helped shut the last two reactors at the Brookhaven Lab on Long Island. He served the RPHP Board from 2006 until his death. David helped generate ideas for RPHP projects, and was a very generous donor to the group.

Jay Gould PhD (1915-2005), was an economic statistician who distinguished himself as an expert witness in antitrust cases. After reading Ernest Sternglass’ book Secret Fallout and being involved in a case involving Westinghouse (a major producer of nuclear reactors), Gould became interested in radiation health, and co-founded RPHP in 1989. He conceived the idea for the landmark Tooth Fairy Project, published several journal articles, and wrote the books Deadly Deceit: Low-Level Radiation, High-Level Cover-Up (1990), and The Enemy Within: The High Cost of Living Near Nuclear Reactors (1996). He served the RPHP Board from 1989 to his death.

Jane Gould (1918-2009), wife of Jay Gould, was the first permanent director of the Women’s Center at Barnard College. A long-time proponent of women’s causes, she was the author of numerous articles on women’s issues and women’s centers, and is the author of Juggling: A Memoir of Work, Family, and Feminism (1997). Through her husband, she became interested in the radiation health issue. She served the Board from 2003 until her death.

Judith Johnsrud PhD (1931-2014), was a geographer with a lifelong interest in nuclear issues. She founded the Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power in 1970, and opposed numerous proposals for nuclear facilities, including the Three Mile Island reactor that later melted down. She was a Board member of the New England Coalition Against Nuclear Power, the Sierra Club, and Beyond Nuclear. Judy made two trips to the Chernobyl area, and spoke at numerous conferences. She served the Board from 2006 until her death.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR:

Joseph Mangano MPH MBA is a health researcher who has served RPHP since 1989. Mangano is author or co-author of 33 medical journal articles on radiation health, and is the author of the books Low Level Radiation and Immune System Damage: An Atomic Era Legacy (1998) and Radioactive Baby Teeth: The Cancer Link (2008). He managed the study of Strontium-90 in baby teeth, and now manages the citizen-based radiation monitoring programs near the Indian Point NY and Oyster Creek NJ nuclear plants.