ASSE Announces Election Results

Des Plaines, IL - Members of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) recently elected new members to its board of directors for the 2010-2011 year, including leaders from Minnesota and Virginia. Darryl C. Hill, CSP, of Michigan, president-elect, and Terrie S. Norris, CSP, ARM, CPSI, senior vice president, of California, will succeed to the offices of president and president-elect, respectively, July 1, 2010.

ASSE, based in Des Plaines, IL, is the oldest safety society representing more than 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental (SH&E) practitioners located worldwide committed to protecting people, property and the environment. ASSE was founded in 1911 in New York City just months after the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that resulted in the deaths of 146 women and men factory workers.

As for the ASSE Board, Hill will succeed C. Christopher Patton, CSP, of Missouri, as ASSE president. As president and chief elected officer, the ASSE president promotes occupational safety and health, the occupational safety health and environmental profession, and represents the members and the Society worldwide. Hill, an ASSE member for more than 20 years, is vice president for safety and health, ABB North America, in Auburn Hills, MI. At ABB his responsibilities include SH&E management for multi-plant, service and project locations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He is on the ABB Group task force providing safety and health strategy for over 150,000 employees and contractors. Hill has a BS in occupational safety from Iowa State University, an MS in hazardous waste management from Wayne State University and is an adjunct instructor and Ph.D. candidate at Oakland University, MI, majoring in educational leadership. 

As a volunteer ASSE member, Hill served as the vice president for finance, as regional vice president, as the construction practice specialty administrator and as a member and chair of the ASSE public relations committee. He was awarded the ASSE Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year (SPY) honor; the Charles V. Culbertson Outstanding Volunteer Service award; the Oakland University occupational safety and health leadership award; the Michigan Safety Conference distinguished service to safety award; and, many more chapter recognitions. He was also editor and contributing author for the popular ASSE book “Construction Safety Management & Engineering” where a percentage of the profits went to the ASSE Foundation for scholarships.
ASSE Senior Vice President Terrie S. Norris, CSP, ARM, CPSI, risk control manager – Bickmore Risk Services, Long Beach, CA, will serve as president-elect 2010-2011 beginning July 1. The ASSE president-elect is responsible for strategic planning, is chair of the ASSE public relations committee and oversees the activities of the ASSE councils. Norris has more than 20 years of experience in SH&E in the recycled paper, rubber and plastics, and metal forming industries, and in insurance and consultation. She graduated sum cum laude from Nazareth College in Kalamazoo, MI, and from Gull Lake High School in Richland, MI. An ASSE member since 1987, she has served as Region I VP and as Orange County chapter president, president-elect, treasurer, and delegate. Under her leadership the chapter and region grew in membership and activities leading to a global Society achievement award. Norris also served the Society as council on member and regional affairs deputy chair; diversity committee chair; on the strategic planning committee; the compensation committee; the 100th anniversary task force; women in safety engineering advisory committee; as management practice specialty webmaster; and, at the chapter stars task force chair – working to salute and recognize volunteer efforts that go above and beyond. An ASSE Foundation champion donor, Norris helped develop and fund the society diversity committee scholarship. She also assisted in the development of safety specifications for public playground equipment as a member of ASTM and was honored with the manager of the year recognition from Poms and Associates; regional and chapter SPY awards; and received the ASSE Culbertson honor.

Richard A. Pollock, CSP, of CLMI Safety Training of Minneapolis, MN, was elected ASSE senior vice president. The senior VP is responsible for regional functions, chairs the ASSE council on member and region affairs and oversees chapters and sections outside the U.S. and its territories. An ASSE member for more than 35 years, Pollock not only has a degree in safety from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, but recently received the Distinguished Alumni Award. His professional experience includes working as corporate SH&E director at Medtronic; as corporate director of safety and risk for Clark Oil and Refining along with working for companies in the consumer goods, heavy manufacturing and insurance loss control industries. At CLMI he has produced more than 500 education courses used worldwide. For ASSE, Pollock chairs the 100th anniversary task force and has served as the vice president of the council on professional development, chair of the annual professional development conference, chapter officer, and several committees and practice specialty groups. His volunteer work has been recognized many times by his peers and he is the recipient of the ASSE Culbertson award, the President's Award and the Northwest Chapter Safety Professional of the Year award.

Members reelected James D. Smith, M.S., CSP, as ASSE VP for finance. The VP of finance serves as treasurer of the society. Smith is the director of risk control, southeast region risk control services, for Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services in Boca Raton, FL. He has been a member of ASSE for 30 years and served as ASSE vice president for the practices and standards council overseeing practice specialties, branches, common interest groups, the standards development committee, and more. He has a BS and an MS in industrial safety from the University of Central Missouri. He has been recognized by his peers for his continued volunteer services including receiving the ASSE Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year (SPY) award in 2004, the Culbertson award and the President's Award for outstanding contributions. Smith has played a pivotal role in the development of several ANSI standards as a committee member and leader (ANSI Z59 chair, Z10, A14, A10.33, A14.3 chair, A1264.1/1264.2), is an expert reviewer for Professional Safety, and has served as ASSE Gold Coast Chapter president and as a member of the professional development committee.

George W. Pearson, CSP, ARM, of Richmond, VA, was reelected to serve as the ASSE vice president for the practices and standards council. The VP chairs the council on practices and standards, supervises practice specialty administrators and oversees the operation of the standards development committee. Pearson has more than 27 years of experience in corporate-level safety and risk management and has an MA in safety management from New York University's School of Education and a BA from Fordham University. Last year, Pearson saw exceptional growth in the ASSE practice and specialty groups and introduced the electronic practice specialty newsletters. He is a founding member of the ASSE international practice specialty and a former administrator of the risk management/insurance (RM/I) practice specialty. Pearson is the recipient of the ASSE Culbertson honor and four chapter SPY awards. He has also supported North American Occupational Safety and Health (NAOSH) Week locally and nationally by helping sponsor ASSE kids' ‘safety-on-the-job' poster contest events in Washington, D.C.

ASSE's eight regions provide administrative coordination for 151 chapters. International chapters are represented within Society regions as well as by the senior vice president. Vice Presidents for the four even-numbered ASSE regions were up for election this year. The two unopposed region VPs who will serve another two-year term are James G. Gallup, P.E., CSP, of Phoenix, AZ, and Robert E. McClay, CSP, of Indiana, PA. The members reelected Region IV VP Michael Belcher, CSP, and elected to serve as the Region VI VP Vincent R. Miller, Jr., CSP, of Manassas, VA.

Belcher is the director of safety for DS Waters of America, Inc., of Atlanta, GA, the U.S. leader in home and office water delivery. He leads safety and health efforts that impact more than 5,000 employees. He was the area director for the ASSE North Florida/Georgia region for five years and chaired the growing Regional Professional Development Conference from 2005 to 2009. He holds a BS in industrial and systems engineering from the University of Florida and has more than 20 years of safety experience. He received the Georgia chapter's SPY award in 2003 and has participated in the development of national consensus standards for waste management safety and serves on the Atlanta-Fulton County Local Emergency Planning Committee. He has also served as Society spokesperson in local TV shows and print stories.

Indiana, PA, -based safety consultant McClay was reelected to serve as Region VIII VP. He has served as a faculty member in academic safety sciences at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and East Carolina University and was elected an ASSE Fellow in 2003. A safety professional for 36 years, McClay helped develop the first ABET-accredited safety science program in the nation at IUP. A member of ASSE since 1973, he was awarded the chapter and region SPY awards and the national President's award. McClay also served as area director for the Region VIII Keystone Area and chaired ASSE's Technical Publications Committee. He has a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and an MBA.

Gallup was reelected to serve as Region II VP. He is a senior fire protection engineer for Rolf Jensen and Associates in Phoenix, AZ. Gallup has a B.S. in fire protection and safety engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology. He joined ASSE in 1982 and has been awarded the Arizona chapter and the Region II SPY awards. During his tenure as Arizona chapter president, the chapter received the ASSE Chapter of the Year award. He is also very active in the ASSE fire protection practice specialty group.

Miller, the new Region VI VP, is safety director for the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) Washington, D.C., chapter and president of Miller Safety Consultants Ltd. Manassas, VA. A long-time member of ASSE, Miller helped create the Northern Virginia (NOVA) chapter while serving as president of the National Capital Chapter (NCC). He also received the NCC SPY award and has represented ASSE at a federal mine training facility event in Beckley, W.VA, and at federal government safety seminars. He is also very active with the ASSE Foundation supporting scholarships and fellow members as they seek professional development certification.

The newly elected and reelected members of the 2010-2011 ASSE board of directors will serve with sitting members of the board. They include executive board members VP for Professional Affairs Thomas F. Cecich, CSP, CIH, and VP for Professional Development Patricia M. Ennis, CSP, ARM. Cecich is president of TFC & Associates, Apex, NC, a safety, health and environmental management consulting firm. Previously he was vice-president EHS Global Business Support at GlaxoSmithKline and worked at IBM and Allied Chemical. Cecich holds a BS and MS in Industrial Engineering. He is a member of the graduate faculty at Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Cecich is a 39-year member of ASSE and has served as North Carolina chapter past president, on the government affairs, strategic planning, professional development conference, educational standards and public relations committees and as an ASSE Foundation trustee. Ennis, CSP, ARM, is director of workplace safety at the Denver Zoological Foundation, Denver, CO, and former ASSE region II vice president. Ennis has worked as a safety manager for a multi-state utility contractor and as a loss control specialist for an insurance carrier. She has a BA from the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, and is a professional member with more than 20 years in the SH&E business. She has served in all leadership roles for the Colorado chapter.

Four ASSE Regional VPs automatically remain in their position until next year's election. They include Region I Vice President Martin P. Jeppeson, CSP, ARM, director of regulatory affairs for California Ammonia Company (CALAMCO), Stockton, CA. Jeppeson has more than 25 years of experience in the safety arena. Before joining CALAMCO he was the safety manager for Erickson, Inc., in Richmond, CA, and prior to that spent 24 years in the US Army. He holds a BS in business administration from the University of Albuquerque, a Master of Political Science from Auburn University, and an MBA from the University of California, Davis. An ASSE member since 1992, he has held several chapter positions including programs chair, vice president, president-elect, two terms as president and as chapter delegate.

Region III VP Gregory L. Smith, CSP, is president, Construction Safety and Health, Inc., (CSHI) of Austin, TX. CSHI provides consulting, training and education, auditing, and other safety-related services. Smith has more than 30 years of experience in the safety field, working in a variety of environments. Prior to joining CSHI, he was operations manager for the Contractors Safety Council of Texas City, TX. He holds both a BS and MS in Industrial Hygiene and Safety from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. A member since 1996, he is a professional member and has held the offices of treasurer, vice president of communications and president in the Gulf Coast chapter. He has served as secretary and assistant administrator for the Construction Practice Specialty, on the special task force for the 2002 leadership conference, the leadership conference planning committee, chaired the online officer training taskforce, chairs the virtual chapter taskforce, and serves as the deputy senior VP for the Council on Member/Region Affairs (COMRA). Smith was named the Gulf Coast chapter's SPY in 2001 and has authored materials for the ASSE Construction Safety Management and Engineering book and the ASSE Safety Professionals' Handbook.

Region V VP Maribeth A. Anderson is EHS supervisor for Jacobs Engineering in Chicago and was the former Greater Chicago chapter president. She has worked in the field of safety since 1994 and received a BA in management from Lewis University in Romeoville, IL, and a Master of Public Administration degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. An ASSE member since 1997, she has served at the chapter, region and society levels. In 2008, she received the Greater Chicago chapter SPY award and in the region SPY award in 2009.

Region VII VP Stephanie A. Helgerman, CSP, is a senior safety representative for BGB, of Columbus, OH. Helgerman has been in the safety field for 20 years and provides direct support services to technical staff in the U.S. and overseas. She has a BS from Slippery Rock University in OHS and a Master's of Science degree from Indiana University of PA in safety. A professional member of ASSE since 1992, she received the SPY honor for the state of Ohio and region VII in 2002.

Source:  American Society of Safety Engineers

Share This Article: