CAPTAIN HOWARD L. KUSNETZ (USPHS RET)
1929-2017
Captain Howard L. Kusnetz (USPHS ret), PE, CIH, CSP died on December 21, 2017. He was born in Brooklyn, N. Y. to Sam and Dora Kusnetz. In high school in Brooklyn he met his lifelong lover and companion, Florence, in a chemistry class. The chemistry was just right, for later they were married in 1950, a love affair that lasted for 67 years.
Howard received his Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Cincinnati. After having received his graduate degree in Public Health from Columbia University in 1950, he was commissioned as an Ensign in the US Public Health Service, and began a distinguished 40-year career in Industrial Hygiene. Howard’s first assignment was to the International Joint Commission in Detroit where, in 1950 he was one half of the entire U.S. air pollution effort. Transfers over the next 20 years led to varied assignments. While he was stationed in Salt Lake City, he participated in studies on the health effect of uranium mining and milling. At that time, he developed a method for measuring the radiation from Radon and its radioactive daughter products. The Kusnetz method which was recognized and validated internationally has been the official EPA method for those measurements.
While stationed in Washington D.C., he was assigned to the White House where he was the co-author of what eventually became the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Other assignments over the years included two stints at the continental atomic bomb tests in Nevada; measurement of potential health hazards in nuclear submarines; pioneering work on the health hazards of using the plasma torch; directing joint research projects with the USPHS in Yugoslavia, Israel, and Germany; and for several years directing the training of young industrial hygienists for the PHS. Howard’s progression from Ensign to Captain took slightly over 13 years. At the time of his retirement in 1971, he was Assistant Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. With the advent of OSHA, the Shell Oil Company recruited him to develop a corporate industrial hygiene program. Over the next 20 years, before retiring, he developed and managed the corporate-wide program in Safety and Industrial Hygiene (SIH), where he developed the procedures for SIH auditing. The Shell program was recognized as one of the leading SIH programs in the world. Howard was also active in professional societies. He was President of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), and later he and Florence established the Kusnetz Award for young, promising industrial hygienists. (The first winner of the award became director of OSHA.) After he retired from Shell, Howard continued with his work of serving people. He joined the Executive Service Corps of Houston where he provided pro bono consulting services to local organizations. He was the consultant for risk assessment and control for the Children’s Museum for over 20 years. Howard was a member of the Board of Trustees of Seven Acres, where he was chairman of the ritual committee, and director of daily services for many years. For his community services, Howard was the recipient of Seven Acres’ Mitzvah Award. He and Florence were given the Crown of a Good Name Award by the Meyerland Minyan.
He is survived by his loving wife of 67 years, Florence, children Bob, Debbie, and Dan, his grandchildren, David, Claire, Marc, Sarah, Rami, Dvoranit, Aryeh, Shoshana, and Shira, great grandchildren, Kira, Yosef, and Roni, his brother and sister-in-law, Meir and Yehudit, and more than a hundred nieces and nephews in Israel.
In lieu of floral tributes, donations may be made in Howard’s memory to Aishel House 1955 University Blvd, Houston, TX 77030, which provides assistance to out of town patients and their families who come to the Texas Medical Center.
A memorial service for Howard will be held at Brazos Tower at Bayou Manor 4141 South Braeswood Blvd, Houston, TX 77025 at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday January 4, 2018.