Sunday, April 24, 2022
I worked as a scientist at NIOSH for 37 years. I served as Branch Chief of PPRB for the last 18 years of this service and worked closely with Dr. Munson throughout his tenure as Director of HELD/NIOSH. His directorship was characterized by an extraordinary expansion of scientific staff, equipment and laboratory space. Dr. Munson exhibited superior administrative skill and leadership in overseeing the major effort of establishing a new division in a new facility. Once the staffing and laboratories were complete, Dr. Munson applied his scientific vision to guide the mission of the new division and foster the scientific excellence of the staff. As an excellent scientist in his own right, he worked diligently to assure high standards for scientific quality, productivity and impact. He provided superior mentorship to promote training and career development of both junior and senior scientific staff. As a result of his leadership efforts, HELD rapidly earned a superior national and international reputation for laboratory research in occupational health science. My years serving under Dr. Munson's leadership were the highlight of my scientific career. This could be said for the vast majority of the HELD scientific staff. Dr. Munson truly left an enduring impact on the fields of immunotoxicology and occupational health.
My condolences to his wife and daughters. Unfortunately, I will be in France in late May and will not be able to attend the memorial service. My thoughts will be with Al and his family during this time.
With sympathy,
Vince Castranova
