Physicist to Head Forensics Academy

(Portland, ME) Forensic physicist Thomas L. Bohan of Portland was elected February 20 in Washington, D.C., to the office of President-Elect of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). Bohan, a member of the American Physical Society , was the AAFS Treasurer for the past two years, will be the first physicist to head the sixty-year-old organization when he becomes its President in February 2009. With nearly 6,000 members from over fifty countries, the AAFS is generally recognized as the world’s preeminent professional organization for forensic scientists.

Bohan was also recently elected to a three-year term on the Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board (FSAB), which subsequently elected him its Treasurer. Established six years ago with support from the AAFS and the National Institute of Justice , the FSAB serves as the accrediting agency for bodies board-certify forensic specialists in fields such as engineering, toxicology, document examination, and anthropology.

With a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana and a J.D. from Pierce Law in Concord, NH, Bohan is founder and director of MTC Forensics , the Portland-based forensic consulting company, as well as founder of Bohan Mathers , for 25 years the only firm in Maine dedicated solely to patent, trademark, and copyright work. Since 1982, his forensic firm has provided scientific and medical expertise to attorneys and prosecutors in civil and criminal matters ranging from esoteric subjects such as cashew-nut poisoning to the all-too-common fields of motor vehicle crashes and violent crime.