Thein, who has worked at ORNL since 1984, earned the award for his inspirational leadership and meritorious service to the Bioassay Conference. Bioassay is the determination of the kind, quantity, location and/or retention of radionuclides in the body by direct (in-vitro) measurement or by in-vitro analysis of material excreted or removed from the body.
Previous to joining ORNL as group leader of Internal Dosimetry, Thein taught at Northeast Louisiana State University, the University of Rangoon in Burma and the University of Pittsburgh. Thein worked at Consumers Power Company in Michigan and the International Atomic Energy Agency's Laboratory in Monaco.
Thein earned a doctorate degree in nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry from the University of Arkansas. He is a member of the Health Physics Society and East Tennessee Chapter of the Health Physics Society. Thein earned a Technical Achievement Award in 1990 from Martin Marietta Energy Systems and an Operations and Support Award in 1991 from the same organization.
Thein and his wife, Khin Aye Thein, have two children and reside in Oak Ridge.
ORNL, one of DOE's multiprogram national research and development facilities, is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp.