Dr. Augustus W. Fountain

Dr. Augustus Way Fountain III teaches chemistry within the Honors College at the University of South Carolina. He recently retired and moved to Columbia, SC after 35 years of military and civilian service with the U.S. Army. Prior to teaching at UofSC, Dr. Fountain was a member of the Scientific and Professional (ST) cadre of the Senior Executive Service where he served as the Senior Research Scientist for Chemistry at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, Acting Director of the Research and Technology Directorate at Edgewood, and the Deputy Chief Scientist for the U.S. Army. He is an internationally recognized expert in electro-optics as it pertains to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives (CBRNE) sensing. In 2010 Dr. Fountain deployed to Iraq as a civilian scientist, advising the CEXC labs on the forensic analysis of explosives residues. He served as an at-large representative of the United States to NATO advising them on CBRNE detection and chaired the NATO Sensors & Electronics Technology Panel. As a military officer, Dr. Fountain served with the 1st Ranger Battalion in Operation Just Cause, the 82nd Airborne Division during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and as a Professor of Chemistry at the United States Military Academy. In 2016, Dr. Fountain was honored with a Meritorious Senior Professional Presidential Rank Award and in 2014 he was elected as a Fellow of the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).