LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD CRITERIA
Presented to individuals that meet the following criteria
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Nominees of this award must have the support of at least eight members of the Board of Directors and must meet at least four of the six criteria set forth above.
In 2000, the IAPMO Board of Directors chose to honor George Kauffman by naming this distinguished award in his name. The award was presented to George at IAPMO’s annual conference held in Alaska in September 2000. George served on numerous IAPMO committees and was considered an expert on codes. His column in Official magazine, titled Kauffman on Codes, was a favorite among IAPMO members.
AWARD RECIPIENT
Bill Erickson IAPMO is blessed with nearly 100 years of association members, a great many of whom have proven essential to the launch and growth of one of our major initiatives. A much smaller handful throughout our history have been invaluable to two of our most successful and significant ventures. The recipient of this year’s George Kauffman Lifetime Achievement Award certainly holds that more unique distinction. Though he was certainly a known commodity in our industry as the head of his family’s very well-respected plumbing contracting business, Bill Erickson’s potential to impact IAPMO wasn’t truly realized until he was elected to the Board of Directors in 2006. He was among the first wave of “at-large” positions created to bring new voices and business backgrounds to the board’s work. And, boy, did he ever set a standard! From the start, he provided a different perspective, a business acumen that made the Board stronger and better equipped to propel IAPMO’s increasingly lofty aspirations. The first major initiative Erickson shepherded into existence would become the American National Standard-designated Water Efficiency and Sanitation Standard, also known as WE•Stand. Back then it was called the Green Plumbing and Code Supplement and its creation reflected a quickly emerging key priority for IAPMO. Our desire to remain at the forefront of sustainability required a code, and a Green Technical Committee was formed to develop it. But its authors would represent a union of stakeholders whose objectives often couldn’t be further at odds. Only the deftest of leaders would be able to broker consensus from such diverging interests and polarized priorities. Erickson was that leader. As the committee chair, his disarming personality and keen sense for bridging divides pulled the committee together toward a common goal and an exceptional document was produced — strong in its own right as means for jurisdictions to voluntarily stretch their own sustainability, but also an exceptional model from which to build the powerful WE•Stand IAPMO proudly produces today. His work, however, was far from done. Not long after the first Green Plumbing and Code Supplement was published, Erickson was one of the first to champion the creation of a charitable arm of the association to support more formally humanitarian projects in which IAPMO was already participating on an emergency basis. This brainchild would ultimately become IWSH. Erickson didn’t merely cheerlead a good idea, however. Once the ball was rolling, he — and it absolutely must be added, his life partner, Susan Snow — formed a dynamic duo, diving in headfirst to help the foundation reach its full potential. Once again, his unique leadership abilities came to the fore as young apprentices and established plumbers, engineers, contractors, manufacturers, and others from all over the world came together to complete complex projects. His calming demeanor and mentoring style earned him the nickname “Uncle Bill” during the foundation’s early days, as fitting a title of love and appreciation as one could hope to earn. And behind the scenes, the business network he built as a contractor in the Chicagoland area for nearly half a century brought early support from manufacturers and like-minded industry organizations to lift IWSH’s aspirations to fruition and become the life-altering philanthropic force it is today. And one more thing, Erickson most recently served on the IAPMO Standards Council from 2015 to 2022, chairing it for the last three years of his tenure. “Thank you so much,” he said. “As I look back at it, the thing that I really loved about IAPMO from day one is excellence in every single thing you do. The standard is set so high that we like that challenge, and there’s an awful lot of work left to be done. I will continue to champion the cause of clean water and safe sanitation because it is a cause we should all be very proud to support.” |
PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS
2022 | Dave Mann |
2021 | Don Summers |
2020 | **Virtual Conference** |
2019 | Mike Durfee |
2018 | Denvert Boney |
2017 | Gary Hile |
2016 | Tony Scarano |
2015 | Tom Gugino |
2014 | Ken Carlson |
2013 | Sid Stolper |
2012 | Jed Scheuermann |
2011 | Robert West |
2009 | Roscoe King |
2007 | Gilbert Kissling |
2005 | George Bliss |
2004 | Edward Saltzberg |
2002 | Pat Higgins (posthumously) |
2002 | Ron Ridenour (posthumously) |
2000 | George Kauffman (inception) |