News Detail

Ready to Start on Day One

5/1/2002

Let me express my gratitude to the ACI membership for electing me as your President. ACI has been a major part of my professional and personal lives for many years, and I am deeply honored to have this opportunity to serve the Institute in this capacity.

Past President Dean Stephen warned me that my year as president would go by very quickly and that I should be ready to start on day one. Based upon how quickly the last two years have gone by as vice president, I know that Dean was correct. So rather than taking this first column to talk about myself, I thought I would start by talking about what I hope to accomplish as president. Each of these topics will be discussed in more detail in future memos.

First, I will build on the efforts of Past President Jim Jirsa to make ACI truly an international organization. We have accomplished a great deal over the last few years, but there is still a lot to be done.

Second, I will certainly work with Past President Dan Baker as he moves forward with his ACI Student Fellowship Program. This program, which was conceived and nurtured by Dan, has the potential to help the industry and the Institute by attracting some of the most capable civil engineering students on our campuses into the field of concrete, to include designers, builders, and suppliers.

Third, I want to reach out within the concrete industry, as it is broadly defined, to bring additional participation into ACI. This outreach includes the many other concrete-related organizations as well as the concrete producer community. ACI does not want to take over the roles or the memberships of the other concrete organizations, but I strongly believe that we need to have better communications with these groups.

Fourth, I want to begin to define ACI’s role in the area of sustainability of the concrete industry. Our industry is just beginning to discuss issues of sustainability, ranging from how “green” a structure may be to the supply of trained and certified skilled workers. We need to determine where ACI fits into this new movement.

Finally, I want to take a little time to look inward at what I consider to be the most basic aspect of the Institute—our technical committee operation. As an Institute, we have recently dedicated a significant amount of our resources to become more strategic and market-driven. Yet, I am very concerned that we have done little over the past several years to make participating any easier or any more rewarding for our volunteer technical committee members.

Whew! Just looking at this list is somewhat overwhelming. Those of you who know me personally know that I’m a country music fan. At a concert several years ago, Don Williams remarked that he didn’t have any cosmic wisdom to share with us, but if any came to him during the course of the concert, he’d let us know. I feel a little the same way as I begin this year as your president.

The tasks listed are based upon my experiences in the Institute over many years. If any of you have insights or cosmic wisdom for me to consider, let me know.

Terry Holland
President,
American Concrete Institute

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