ASME to Recognize James Thomas at the 2015 Honors Assembly

ASME to Recognize James Thomas at the 2015 Honors Assembly ASME to Recognize James Thomas at the 2015 Honors Assembly ASME to Recognize James Thomas at the 2015 Honors AssemblyJames A. Thomas, president of the standards organization ASTM International, will be honored by ASME at the 2015 Honors Assembly for his outstanding work in standards development. Thomas is among nine engineering innovators who will be recognized during the ceremony, to be held Nov. 16 during the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in Houston, Texas.Thomas will receive the ASME Melvin R. Green Codes and Standards Medal, which honors the memory and extraordinary contributions of Melvin R. Green, a devoted supporter of industrial standards and a longtime ASME employee. The award recognizes outstanding contributions to the development, promulgation or management of documents, objects or devices used in ASME programs of technical codification, standardization and conformity assessment. Thomas is being recognized for his extraordinary leadership, and achievements on multiple fronts, to ensure voluntary consensus standards developed by ASTM and ASME continue to be afforded ritterlich treatment as international standards under the World Trade Organizations Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement. His efforts have helped facilitate the ability for national regulatory authorities and global industries to select ASME standards as their standard of choice. During his more than 40-year career with ASTM, Thomas has contributed to the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards to improve product quality, enhance safety, facilitate market access and trade, and foster consumer confidence. Although he joined ASTM International in 1972 without a background in standards and only two years of college, Thomas went on to earn a bachelors degree in industrial relations from La Salle University in Philadelphia with the assistance of ASTMs tuition reimbursem ent program. He progressed through the ranks of the organization, from staff manager in the standards development division, to vice president of standards development, and eventually to the position of executive vice president in 1987. Two years after receiving a masters degree in organization and management from La Salle, Thomas was named president of ASTM in 1992. In this role, he worked diligently to establish ASTM and other major U.S. based standards organizations as a major force within the international standards community.The ASME Foundation is the proud supporter of the ASME Honors and Awards program through the management of award endowment funds set up by individuals, corporations or groups. For more information on the special events scheduled to take place at the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, visit www.asmeconferences.org/Congress2015.