Photograph of Katsuji Nagasawa and Akio Awa

This photograph from the papers of William J. Schull, Ph.D. shows AWA later in life . Dr. Schull was a driving force behind the assembly of the ABCC archives at the McGovern Historical Center. Read more at William J. Schull, PhD Photograph Collection

William J. Schull, PhD was an American scientist and geneticist famous for his research into the effects of ionizing radiation on the human body largely based on the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after World War II. Dr. Schull began his scientific career in radiation research in 1949 when he joined the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), established in Japan in 1946 by the United States National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council to study the effects of the bombings in accordance with a presidential directive from Harry S. Truman.