Wick, Charles H.

AMERICAN
RESEARCH PHYSICAL SCIENTIST

Charles H. Wick, team leader of the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), is a physical scientist who has made significant contributions to forensic science . Although his 30–year professional career has spanned both the public sector and the military, his better-known work in the area of forensic science has occurred in concert with the Department of Defense (DOD).

After earning four degrees from the University of Washington, Wick worked in the private sector (civilian occupations) for twelve years, leading to a patent, numerous publications, and international recognition among his colleagues.

In 1983, Wick joined the Vulnerability/Lethality Division of the United States Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, where he quickly achieved recognition as a team leader and principal investigator. It was at this point that he made one of his first major contributions to forensic science and to the field of antiterrorism; his team was the first to utilize current technology to model sub-lethal chemical, biological, and nuclear agents. This achievement was beneficial to all areas of the Department of Defense, as well as to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and gained Wick international acclaim as an authority on individual performance for operations conducted on a nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) battlefield.

During his career in the United States Army, Wick rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Chemical Corps. He was a Unit Commander for twelve years, a staff officer for six years (he was an ARCOM Staff Chemical Officer for two rotations), Deputy Program Director Biological Defense Systems, and retired from the position of Commander of the 485th Chemical Battalion in April of 1999.

Wick has continued to work for the DOD as a civilian at ECBC. His most notable achievement, and one which earned him the Department of the Army Research and Development Award for Technical Excellence and a Federal Laboratory Consortium Technology Transfer Award in 2002, was his involvement in the invention of the Integrated Virus Detection System (IVDS), a fast-acting, highly portable, user-friendly, extremely accurate and efficient system for detecting the presence of, screening, identifying, and characterizing viruses. The IVDS can detect and identify the full spectrum of known, unknown, and mutated viruses, from AIDS to foot and mouth disease, to West Nile Virus, and beyond. This system is compact, portable, and does not rely upon elaborate chemistry.

Throughout his career, Wick has made lasting and important contributions to forensic science and to the field of antiterrorism. He has written more than forty-five civilian and military publications and has received myriad awards and citations, including twenty-five decorations and awards for military and community service, two United States Army Achievement Medals for Civilian Service, the Commander's Award for Civilian Service, and the Technical Cooperation Achievement Award.

see also Air and water purity, forensic tests; Analytical instrumentation; Chemical and biological detection technologies; Chemical warfare; Ebola virus.