Dear NAFE Board and Academy Members,
I am thrilled and honored to welcome everyone to the awesome city of San Antonio, Texas!
Our first international conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada was a well-received and a welcoming experience thanks to hospitality of our Canadian brothers and sisters. We hope to visit our neighbors to the North in the near future for another NAFE conference. Since our meeting in Toronto, it has still been challenging for everyone and their family to continue living in a COVID-19 world, and I want you all to know I still have you in my prayers. Since our first in person 2016 Summer NAFE conference in Providence, Rhode Island, the Board has been cautiously optimistic in continuing to plan each conference to stay within budget and meet the needs of NAFE Members. I am proposing to the Board that we begin planning the sites for our NAFE Conferences at least a year in advance we did prior to COVID-19. I am confident that we can continue to have successful NAFE conferences with the participation of the NAFE Board and our Academy Members during the new COVID-19 normal.
Academy members who selflessly contribute to keep our Academy thriving cannot be thanked enough for their Herculean effort such as the Website Committee that continues to keep our website functioning like a well-oiled machine that allows us to register for meetings, renew memberships, and become members of the Academy seamlessly. Nevertheless, I want to state once again that the backbone of our technical system known as CiviCRM that supports our website and other aspects of the Academy would not be possible without my colleague and friend – Mitch Maifeld. Mitch continues to tirelessly keep NAFE1 functioning, our NAFE.org website and our NAFE content accessible to members of the Academy.
The state of the Academy is very good and, with the relationship with NSPE becoming stronger thanks to NSPE Executive Director & CEO Monika Schultz’s leadership, it will be excellent. Nevertheless, some things will be a bit more challenging with our Executive Secretary Mary Ann Cannon leaving for a career change and Ross Curtis, a NAFE Past-President retiring his position as Legislative Chairman. They will be sorely missed but their contributions never forgotten. On behalf of the Academy, I would like to thank them both for their dedicated service to the Academy.
I am excited about the presentations that will be shared with the Academy on Saturday and Sunday. Thank you to the Law Firm of McCoy, Leavitt, Laskey as well as our distinguished speakers such as Mark Svare, PhD, P.E., DFE, who presented in Canada on a subject matter that he will continue to speak upon here in San Antonio. I know this will be an unforgettable meeting.
I would also like to thank the NAFE Board for their continued support during my tenure as NAFE President, and I am extremely excited to pass on this Distinguished Position of President of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers to my friend and colleague President Elect Joe Leanne, P.E., DFE, who in the past year more than doubled the number of members admitted into the Academy to over 60 members. I have known Joe for over 20 years, and I can say without reservation or hesitation that the Academy will continue to be in great hands with Joe at the helm.
To the 2022 NAFE Board of Directors, Committee Chairs, committee members, volunteers, NAFE Members and presenters here in San Antonio, I sincerely want to THANK YOU for allowing me to serve as President of the National Academy of Engineers, an organization that continues to serve as the North Star of Ethical Engineering Practice in the Engineering Community.
I look forward to greeting you and, to those who could not attend, please know you are here in spirit.
Thank you all and stay safe.
Sincerest Regards,
Samuel G. Sudler III, P.E., IntPE, DFE, F.NSPE
2022 NAFE President