AIHA Selects Members to Be Honored as Fellows, Named Award Recipients

AIHA has selected the list of individuals and groups that will be honored this year with an AIHA Fellowship or Named Award for their significant contributions to the Association and the occupational and environmental health and safety (OEHS) profession.

Lawrence D. Sloan, MBA, FASAE, CAE, the CEO of AIHA, expressed his congratulations to the recipients. “AIHA recognizes those with vision, commitment to the OEHS profession, and an altruistic spirit,” he said. “We are deeply appreciative of your exemplary leadership.”

Fellows and Named Award recipients were chosen by the AIHA Awards and Fellows Nominating Committee, which is comprised of five AIHA members with the Fellows designation who represent OEHS across the industry, academia, and consulting facets of the profession and are active participants in volunteer groups and local sections. In addition, the committee is chaired by Lindsay Cook, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, the current past president of AIHA.

According to Cook, “The nomination process is enlightening and presented the unique opportunity to get to know all nominees on a deeper level—their accomplishments and the high esteem in which their peers view them.”

“I deeply appreciate the great work done by all our dedicated and hard-working nominees and congratulate this year’s award winners” Cook said.

2022 AIHA Fellows:

Shannon H. Gaffney, PhD, MHS, CIH, FAIHA
Nominated by Anders Abelmann, MS, PhD, CIH; Dana Hollins, MPH, CIH; and Jennifer Sahmel, MPH, CIH, CSP, FAIHA
Shannon Gaffney has devoted her professional career to the field of occupational and environmental health and safety. Her experience and expertise include evaluating various aspects of community and worker health. As a principal investigator with Cardno ChemRisk, Gaffney has designed and executed several comprehensive research studies focused on evaluating current or historical worker exposures. She has also evaluated methods for occupational exposure limit development for several chemicals and reconstructed worker and community exposures in a variety of settings and industries. Her breadth and depth of technical skills is impressive, both in terms of evaluating chemical exposures and bigger-picture methodological research. Notably, her range involves both chemical and physical hazards and her collaborators include peers in private industry, academia, and other fields.

Kathleen S. Murphy, CIH, FAIHA
Nominated by Jennifer Sahmel, MPH, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, on behalf of the Fellows Special Interest Group
Kathleen Murphy, the director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Sherwin Williams in Cleveland, Ohio, has been an AIHA member since 1998. A graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Murphy has professional experience in business, government, and consulting. Prior to joining Sherwin Williams, Murphy brought her experience to national organizations and global corporations such as OSHA, PolyOne, ExxonMobil, and Honeywell. Her leadership and strategic vision have been instrumental to guiding AIHA’s continued evolution in inclusive, modern, forward-thinking ways that expand the Association’s reach beyond industrial hygiene. She was president of AIHA’s Board of Directors from 2019 to 2020 and has also served on the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation Board of Trustees, the AIHA Finance Committee, the Product Stewardship Society, the Analytical Accreditation Board, the Standards Advisory Panel, several AIHA local sections, and the International Strategy Task Force (as Board Liaison).

Thomas Peters, PhD, CIH, FAIHA
Nominated by Kent A. Candee, MS, CIH, CSP, ARM, CPCU, on behalf of the AIHA Iowa/Illinois Local Section
Peters’ career has included evaluating real-time aerosol measurement devices, investigating turbulence effects on coarse filters, analyzing size selectors used in chemical speciation samplers, and developing aerosol generators for use in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s human exposure facilities. During his time with the EPA, he contributed to the development of the agency’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard for particulate matter under 2.5 micrometers in diameter, (PM2.5). In the process of creating the standard, he was responsible for developing and testing PM2.5 sampling hardware, conducting field tests, and drafting portions of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Peters also collaborated in the development of novel methods to assess the spatial, temporal, and compositional variability in atmospheric particulate matter, in further EPA-funded work. His key role in this work has been to develop and standardize low-cost passive sampling methods with analysis by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy to determine concentrations of coarse particulates and their compositional makeups.

Philip Platcow, CIH, BS, MS
Nominated by Bart Ellingsen, CIH, on behalf of the AIHA New England Local Section
As senior vice president of health and safety at The Vertex Companies, Platcow leads monthly health and safety webinars open to all of his Vertex colleagues, which cover subjects such as industrial hygiene and safety and on-air monitoring practices and instruments. Platcow also conducts in-house Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) refreshers, respiratory protection seminars, and industrial hygiene exposure assessments, to ensure the highest standards of learning and ultimate performance. He has teamed up with The Vertex Companies’ president and chief operating officer for periodic recorded messages, health and safety webinars, and briefings. Platcow also understands his role as requiring him to excel in explaining health topics, including those related SARS-CoV-2, to his company. Thanks to Platcow’s ability to teach technical subjects in language accessible to non-experts, his colleagues routinely say that they consider The Vertex Companies to be a trusted source for news and information on SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, Platcow led the development of Vertex’s mentoring program and currently serves on the company’s Mentoring Leadership Committee and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.

2022 AIHA Named Award Recipients:

The Alice Hamilton Award for Social Responsibility will go to Pamela R.D. Williams, MS, ScD, CIH, who was nominated by Alan Rossner, PhD, CIH, FAIHA. This award distinguishes individuals who recognized and addressed the diverse needs of the workforce by developing and advancing the practice of social welfare and responsibility through public service, community service, and non-traditional social reform, thereby making a major impact on, and improvement of, public welfare.

The Donald E. Cummings Memorial Award for Outstanding OEHS Practice will go to Howard B. Spielman, CIH, CSP, SMS, REHS (ret), FAIHA, who was nominated by Joel I. Berman, CIH, CSP, CIAQM; Kathy S. Jones, CIH; and Mary Anne Messiha, MPH, CIH, CSP, CPH. This award recognizes individuals who make outstanding contributions to the knowledge and practice of the OEHS profession through demonstrating practical application of OEHS knowledge, advancing the practice of Total Worker Health, expanding the profession through active collaboration via alliances and partnerships, and creating tools applicable beyond the OEHS profession.

The President’s Distinguished Service to AIHA Award will go to Paul Hewett, PhD, CIH, FAIHA, who was selected by AIHA President John Mulhausen, PhD, CIH, CSP, FAIHA. This award, the highest tribute paid to an AIHA member, recognizes distinguished and exemplary service in the advancement of the OEHS profession and the unique technical and professional contributions made in the support of AIHA’s mission and vision.

The Edward J. Baier Technical Achievement Award will go to Charles “Gus” Manning, PhD, CIH, FAIHA, who was nominated by Richard Mark O’Mara MS, CIH, CIHC, FAIHA. This award recognizes an individual or individuals whose technical accomplishments have made substantial, leading-edge contributions to the field of OEHS through technical expertise, innovation, research, scientific advancements, and interaction with or influence on other scientific disciplines.

The Kusnetz Award for Outstanding Achievement by an Early Career Professional will go to Beauregard M. Middaugh, PhD, MS, CIH, CSP, who was nominated by Neil Zimmerman, PhD, PE, CIH, FAIHA. This award honors an industrial hygienist under the age of 40 and currently employed in the private sector who shows promise for leadership in the profession. The Kusnetz Award is sponsored by Florence Kusnetz.

This year’s AIHA Fellows and Named Award recipients will be formally honored in a virtual Mark of Excellence ceremony to be held in the coming months.