Mark Finn Elected Chair of American Board of Industrial Hygiene

ABIH’s New Chair, Mark Finn, Leads New Slate of ABIH Directors

WEBWIRE – Monday, January 28, 2013

Mark Finn, PhD, CIH, has been elected Chair of the American Board of Industrial Hygiene (ABIH). Dr. Finn has served on the Board since 2010. He is a Principal Consultant with ENVIRON International, an environmental, health and safety consulting firm. Dr. Finn earned his PhD in Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Illinois Chicago, where he also serves as an adjunct professor. He has over 30 years of occupational health, safety, product stewardship, and emergency management experience with industry and government. Dr. Finn succeeds Lydia Renton, CIH, ROH who is rotating off the Board after four years of service.

“ABIH continues to be globally recognized as the leader in the certification of industrial hygiene (IH) professionals, and promoting the ethical practice of IH,” stated Dr. Finn. “The current fiscal and organizational strengths of ABIH are indicative of the excellent contributions of former Boards and CIHs over the past 53 years. ABIH will continue to focus on maintaining and improving the existing certification processes, attracting more young professionals into IH, developing more mutually-beneficial relationships with Universities, and collaborating with organizations throughout the world to encourage robust certification processes. This focus is already showing results as, even in a difficult economic climate, the number of CIHs increased in 2012!”

Dr. Finn will lead a slate of ABIH Directors that includes two new CIH Directors, and eight returning Directors. The new Board will be officially installed at the conclusion of the March 2013 Board meeting. Each CIH Director serves a four-year term. The Public Director serves a two-year term.

The new CIH Directors include:

Tim Paz, CIH, is an Industrial Hygienist for Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Research Oversight in Washington D.C. Mr. Paz has M.S. degree in Industrial Hygiene from the University of Central Missouri. He has over 22 years of experience in industrial hygiene settings for both private industry and government programs. In addition, he has been very active in leading and supporting AIHA Local Sections throughout his career.

David Roskelley, MSPH, CIH, CSP is a Principal owner in R&R Environmental, Inc, a broad-based consulting practice for industrial hygiene and safety issues. In addition, he also serves as an adjunct faculty member at University of Utah, Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. He has a MSPH from the University of Utah RMCOEH. Mr. Roskelley has over 15 years’ experience as a consultant and teacher and has served on a variety of Boards and AIHA Committees during his career.

The eight continuing Directors are:

Patricia Beach, CIH, Harris & Lee Environmental Sciences, LLC
Kimberly Castillon, CIH, OSHA
Bret Clausen, CIH, CSP, CHMM, ARM, CH2M Hill
Nicole Greeson, CIH, Duke University
Michael D. Larrañaga, CIH, CSP, PE, PhD, Oklahoma State University
Susan Ripple, CIH, The Dow Chemical Company.
Shamini Samuel, CIH, CSP, ROH, Suncor Energy Services Inc.
Michael Shanklin, Public Member, CEO Kidspace Children’s Museum

Two Directors have completed their service and will leave the Board in March 2013. They are:

Janet L. Keyes, CIH, CHESS, Inc.
Lydia Renton, CIH, ROH, WESA, Inc.

ABIH offers the premier certification in the world for occupational hygienists, the Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). These are professionals dedicated to protecting the health and safety of the workforce and our communities. Earning the CIH requires that candidates meet rigorous education and experience requirements, pass an examination, and recertify every five years by fulfilling certification maintenance requirements designed to enhance the ongoing knowledge and skills of the CIH. Globally, there are approximately 6700 CIHs.