NFPA Journal - September/October 2016 - 4

» FIRST WORD NFPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS By James Pauley, NFPA President Officers Randolph W. Tucker, Chair Tucker Consulting Associates Houston, Texas Keith E. Williams, First Vice-Chair Underwriters Laboratories Inc. Northbrook, Illinois Amy R. Acton, Second Vice-Chair The Phoenix Society Grand Rapids, Michigan Commitment & Passion A note of thanks to NFPA's Board of Directors Donald R. Cook, Secretary Shelby County Dept. of Development Services Pelham, Alabama Thomas Lawson, Treasurer FM Global Johnston, Rhode Island James Pauley, President President and CEO, NFPA *Bruce H. Mullen, Staff Officer Executive Vice-President and CFO, NFPA *Dennis J. Berry, Assistant Secretary Secretary of the Corporation, NFPA A The working relationship between the board and NFPA staff is also unlike any I've seen. Every board member is approachable by anyone at any level of our organization. They listen and they offer perspective. The open dialogue that occurs is critical to our success and the envy of many other associations. At our June conference, the membership elected three new Board members: Teresa Deloach Reed, chief of the Oakland (California) Fire Department; Stacy Welch, senior director at Marriott International; and Hatem Kheir, general manager of the Egypt-based Kheir Group. As representatives of the fire service, the large user community, and interI have never been involved with a board that is as national fire protection passionate and dedicated as our board at NFPA. engineering, they reflect the impressive breadth of what NFPA does. Each collection of dedicated individuals who share a common passion: advancing the NFPA mission. brings great experience and insight that will comThroughout my career I have served on many plement our existing board composition. I would be remiss in talking about commitboards and with a lot of great people. But I have never been involved with a board that is as pas- ment if I didn't mention the great contribution Ernest Grant has made over the last two years sionate and dedicated as our board at NFPA. as chair of the Board. Ernest has been a staunch Every time the board comes together, memsupporter of NFPA-you can see this firsthand bers are focused on not what is best for their in the video of the speech he delivered at C&E in particular industry or segment, but rather on what is best for NFPA, our stakeholders, and the June, at youtube.com/watch?v=BuEqCffqwco- and his wise counsel to the organization is advancement of our mission. It's an incredible greatly appreciated. thing to watch. To the NFPA Board: Thank you for your time, Board members lend their expertise and wisyour dedication, and your wisdom. The entirety dom at every turn and act as a sounding board of NFPA benefits from your contribution. for our direction and initiatives. As we developed and rolled out our new strategy over the last 18 months, the board was there each step of the way. They asked the critical questions, provided guidance, and ultimately became part of the messaging of our strategic direction. s summer comes to a close, it is a busy time here at NFPA. We are coming off of a great Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, the new 2017 NEC® is on the street, and we continue to have a positive impact on fire, electrical, and life safety across the globe. As I sat down to write this column, it dawned on me that there is one very critical aspect of NFPA that I have not talked about before-our Board of Directors. As you are aware, we have a board made up of volunteers who come from a cross section of our stakeholder base. From CEOs to fire chiefs to enforcers to engineers to firefighters and a host of other disciplines, our board is a Directors Ernest J. Grant, Ph.D., Immediate Past Chair North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina Terms Expire in 2017 Kwame Cooper Los Angeles Fire Department Los Angeles, California Russell Leavitt Telgian Corp. Phoenix, Arizona Julie A. Rochman IBHS Tampa, Florida Eric Rosenbaum JENSEN HUGHES Baltimore, Maryland Terms Expire in 2018 John Bonney Alendi Consulting Ropley, United Kingdom R. David Paulison Global Emergency Solutions Davie, Florida Harold A. Schaitberger International Assoc. of Fire Fighters Washington, D.C. William A. Stewart Toronto Fire Services (retired) Toronto, Ontario, Canada Michael Wallace United Technologies Farmington, Connecticut Peter J. Gore Willse XL GAPS Hartford, Connecticut Terms Expire in 2019 Tonya Hoover Fire Marshal Sacramento, California Hatem Kheir Kheir Group Cairo, Egypt Teresa L. Deloach Reed Oakland Fire Department Oakland, California Stacy N. Welch Marriott International Bethesda, Maryland *Not a member of the Board of Directors 4 NFPA JOURNAL SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuEqCffqwco

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - September/October 2016