ASSE Awards & Honors Celebrated at Tuesday Opening Session

This morning’s General Session featured recipients of the ASSE Fellow Honor, awards and the passing of the ASSE President’s Medallion. First off, Darryl C. Hill, Ph.D., CSP, was given the honor of ASSE Fellow. Hill, a past president of ASSE, thanked his father and mother, and his Iowa State professor who encouraged him to study occupational safety. He encouraged members to get involved and add to the Society and profession. “Everyone can do more for the profession and the Society,” Hill said.

Leo J. DeBobes, received the Edgar Monsanto Queeny SafetyProfessional of the Year Award for his strong leadership within the Society and profession. In his acceptance speech, DeBobes focused on the importance of educating and training future safety leaders. “Make sure we continue to have strong SH&E academic programs to train the next generation of people who will take our place,” he said.  

Two safety professionals were presented with the William E.Tarrants Outstanding Safety Educator of the Year Award: Hamid Fonooni and Richard F. Sesek. Fonooni is program coordinator at East Carolina University. He shared his dreams of accreditation for all SH&E programs in colleges and universities, saying that ABET accreditation is the gold standard. Sesek is assistant professor in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Auburn University. He thanked ASSE for always supporting academics and gave credit to Dr. Tarrants (of whom the award is named after) for helping define what it means to be a safety professional.

After these awards were presented, 2012-13 ASSE President Rick Pollock, CSP, reminisced about his year of presidency, saying that his best experiences were meeting members and seeing them in action. “Last year I asked you to imagine the energy and creativity we could all create, he said. “I’ve witnessed this in action. It’s awesome.” He said the future for SH&E professionals is bright, and summed up by saying, “Always be proud of the work we do.” 

Pollock went on the hand over the President’s Medallion to the 99^th ASSE President Kathy A. Seabrook, CSP, CMIOSH, EuOSHM. She graciously addressed the crowd and focused on key ASSE initiatives, including the Center for Health and Sustainability and the new Risk Assessment Institute (which will launch tonight at Safety 2013). Seabrook assured attendees that ASSE is working hard to help connect the dots to the business world and to improve the value that safety professionals bring to the table. “We must work together to enhance our value,” Seabrook said. She closed by challenging attendees to prove their value and to keep their mission in mind. “I challenge each of you to focus on our ultimate goal—safe and healthy workplaces around the world,” Seabrook said.