Robert W. Powitz, PhD, MPH, is principal forensic sanitarian for R. W. Powitz & Associates, P.C., Old Saybrook, CT.
He received his undergraduate education from the State University of New York and the University of Georgia. He holds MPH and PhD degrees in environmental health, epidemiology, and environmental microbiology from the University of Minnesota.
Formally trained as an Institutional Sanitarian, Powitz is currently a forensic sanitarian in private practice. He served as state Sanitarian and municipal Health Officer in New Jersey and Connecticut. He holds a Sanitarian license in several states and has been nationally registered for 54 years. He was the director of environmental health and safety and associate professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He served as biological safety officer for the United States Department of Agriculture at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center.
For over 35 years, he wrote regularly appearing columns and articles on food safety, current environmental health issues, field instrumentation, and institutional environmental health practice. He does frequent speaking tours for governmental agencies, industry, and professional organizations.
Powitz is the recipient of the 3 highest honors conferred to a sanitarian: The National Environmental Health Association’s Walter S. Mangold Award; NSF International’s Walter F. Snyder Award; and the American Academy of Sanitarians’ Davis Calvin Wagner Award. He is a Diplomate Laureate in the American Academy of Sanitarians and a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Engineering and Technology.
IDEA in Action: A Strategic Approach to Contamination Control
January 14th 2025Adopting IDEA—identify, define, explain, apply—streamlines contamination control. Infection control professionals can mitigate risks through prevention, intervention, and training, ensuring safer health care environments and reducing frequent contamination challenges.