The Richard D. Gaynor Award
For Excellence in Research, Engineering & Standards
John Cook
Vice President Technical Services, Thomas Concrete
2024 Gaynor Award Recipient
Richard D. Gaynor, retired as executive vice president of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) and the National Aggregates Association (NAA) in 1996 after more than 40 years of service with the associations. Dick’s knowledge, experience and attention to detail on technical issues related to concrete was well recognized. In 1997, the NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee established the Richard D. Gaynor Award in honor of Mr. Gaynor.
Gaynor Awards recipients are selected for their lifetime contribution to the ready mixed industry in the technical field. Nominees can be a former or present member of the NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards Committee who has shown dedication and progressed the Agenda of the Committee. Nominees can also be anyone in the concrete industry who has made strides to advance engineering and research issues affecting the industry. Nominees for this award can be former or present members of the NRMCA RES Committee, other members involved in NRMCA or other concrete-related technical societies, staff members and can be active, retired or deceased. The Award will be presented annually at the prerogative of the NRMCA RES Committee, typically at the NRMCA Annual Convention. The RES Committee can choose to select more than one recipient in any year.
The award is in the form of a pyramid, symbolizing engineering excellence. The inscription reads:
The Richard D. Gaynor Award
For Personal Dedication, Devotion, and Significant Contributions
To NRMCA’s Research, Engineering, & Standards Program
Nominations for the Richard D. Gaynor Award will be solicited from the NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards Committee or from any member of the industry. The nominating committee is composed of past recipients of the Gaynor award who will review the nominees and provide their recommendation to the RES Committee for a vote of the committee.
For more information or to submit nominations, please contact Colin Lobo, NRMCA executive vice president, engineering division, at 703-706-4860. Nominations should include a brief summary (less than 50 words) of the credentials of the nominee to support their selection. Submit nominations by email before April 30.
Past Recipients of the Richard D. Gaynor Award
- 2023 J. Bruce Blair President & CEO (ret.), Consumers Concrete Corporation
- 2022 Karthik Obla, NRMCA
- 2021 Terence Holland, Consulting Engineer
- 2020 Jerry S. Haught P.E., Consulting Engineer
- 2019 Frank Kozeliski, Consulting Materials Engineer
- 2018 Gene Daniel, Consulting Engineer
- 2017 Thomas H. Adams, Executive Director, American Coal Ash Association
- 2016 Dr. Ken Hover, Professor, Cornell University
- 2015 Nicholas J. Carino, Concrete Technology Consultant
- 2014 Gary Mullings, NRMCA
- 2013 Ken Rear, Retired Vice President Research, Heidelberg Technology Center
- 2012 Colin Lobo, NRMCA
- 2011 Ken Day Retired, Concrete Advice, Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia
- 2011 Edwin R. Dunstan, ERD Consultants, LLC
- 2010 Lawrence R. Roberts, Roberts Consulting Group, LLC
- 2009 James Cook Tarmac, Titan America
- 2008 Ward Malisch, ASCC
- 2007 Anthony E. Fiorato, CTL Group
- 2006 Jon Mullarky, Consultant, FHWA
- 2005 C. Patrick McFarlane, Oldcastle Materials
- 2004 Norm Nelson, Lyman Richey Corporation
- 2003 Andrew W. Young, Lafarge NA
- 2002 T. Michael Kaney, CEMEX USA
- 2001 Richard C. Meininger, Consultant, FHWA
- 2000 Earl F. Callison, Jr., Walt Keeler Company
- 1999 Larry Asel, Concrete Company of Springfield
- 1998 Fred F. Bartel, Tews Lime & Cement Company
- 1998 Melvin W. Flanagan, Walt Flanagan & Company
- 1998 Herbert L. Harger, Con Rock Company
- 1998 Edward L. Howard, RMC Lonestar
- 1998 Donald J. Peters, Genstar Stone Products Company
- 1998 Ralph Vencill, Materials Service Corporation
2024 Gaynor Award Recipient
John Cook, Vice President Technical Services, Thomas Concrete
John Cook has been involved in the concrete industry for over 40 years. John received his Bachelor of Science in Geology from Georgia Southern University. He started his career with a Geotechnical firm testing soils and concrete and subsequently moved to work in the ready mixed concrete industry. He has been employed by Thomas Concrete for the last 38 years with leadership roles in Technical Services.
John is an active participant at ACI. His goal has been to represent the ready-mixed concrete industry to guide the direction of ACI’s guides and standards so that these are relevant and will be used by the industry. He is a member of ACI 211 on Proportioning Concrete Mixtures and several subcommittees. He serves on ACI 237 on Self Consolidating Concrete, ACI 522 on Pervious Concrete and has served on ACI 311 on Inspection. John is a Fellow of ACI.
John has been active at NRMCA for more than 15 years. He is a member of the Research Engineering and Standards (RES), Safety Environmental and Operation (SEO), and Workforce Development committees. He currently serves on the NRMCA Board of Directors. On the RES Committee, John has supported several activities with the P2P initiative, technical publications, and industry quality initiatives. He has always been available to provide an industry perspective and feedback on NRMCA’s technical initiatives. John served as the Chair of the RES Committee between 2020 and 2022.
John has served on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Ready Mix Concrete Association and is a past chair of the GRMCA technical committee. He maintains membership on the technical and scholarship committees of the GRMCA. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Chapter of ACI.
John has mentored several employees of Thomas Concrete to get involved in various local and national technical committees and other activities. John has a passion for sharing knowledge and has supported several individuals to attain Georgia DOT Technician and Batchman certification. He has been involved in administering Concrete 101 seminars, Lunch and Learns, and Lab and Plant tours.
John and his wife Janet reside in the Atlanta area. His daughter Abby, son Alex, and daughter-in-law Ashley live and work in the Atlanta area. John enjoys family time and golf with the guys.
2023 Gaynor Award Recipient
J. Bruce Blair President & CEO (ret.), Consumers Concrete Corporation
Bruce Blair has been involved in the cement and concrete industry for more than 40 years. For most of his career he has worked at Lafarge cement and concrete businesses with roles in manufacturing, technical sales, concrete quality control, research and development, and marketing. Bruce recently retired from Consumers Concrete Corporation in Kalamazoo, MI, where he managed ready mixed concrete, masonry, and hardscape product businesses. Throughout his career, Bruce has been active in industry organizations that develop standards, support promotion and other industry initiatives. His experience has developed proficiencies in quality control management, change implementation, project management, and team leadership. He has authored articles on performance-based specifications for concrete and the use of blended and innovative cementitious materials.
Bruce Blair received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor’s in Geology from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. He is a registered professional engineer in the Province of Ontario, Canada.
Bruce has been active at ASTM International, involved in changing standards for cement in support of industry initiatives. He chaired the subcommittee managing cement specifications and was active on other subcommittees responsible for standards on concrete materials, ready mixed concrete, and test methods. He served as a chair of the PCA Product Standards and Technology Committee that supported PCA research activities and technical advocacy on cement, concrete durability, and other technical initiatives to protect and grow the concrete market share. Bruce is a former president of the Slag Cement Association and has participated on committees of the Michigan Concrete Association, National Concrete Masonry Association, American Concrete Institute, AASHTO subcommittee on materials, and the National Concrete Consortium.
Bruce has been a member of the NRMCA Board of Directors and active on committees supporting NRMCA initiatives on paving and building promotion, operations, and sustainability. On the RES Committee, Bruce has chaired the Research Task Group and facilitated the development of research topics that support ready mixed concrete industry objectives. He has served on the Advisory Council of the RMC Research and Education Foundation. He has actively monitored research activities of the CSHub at MIT and facilitated collaboration with other researchers active on concrete durability.
On the community involvement front, Bruce has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity, organized clean-up drives at parks, supported homeless shelters, and volunteered as a coach for football, soccer, and ice hockey at various levels. Bruce and his wife Kelly have retired to Florida. He has four sons who are well established in their respective careers. Bruce and Kelly have been blessed with seven grandchildren. His hobbies include sports, reading, and travel.
2022 Gaynor Award Recipient
Karthik Obla, NRMCA
Karthik Obla has been active in the concrete industry for more than 30 years. He joined NRMCA in 2003 after working as a Technical Manager at Boral Materials Technologies, Inc.
Karthik Obla holds a Bachelor’s in civil engineering from IIT (BHU) in India and an MS and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He is a licensed engineer in the state of Maryland.
At Boral Materials, Karthik was primarily involved in new product development and technology transfer activities. At the NRMCA, Karthik has been directing research and testing at the NRMCA Research Laboratory, supporting programs of the NRMCA RES Committee for quality initiatives, performance specifications, technical publications, and NRMCA technical education programs. He has administered the NRMCA excellence in quality award, developed industry quality benchmarks, and supported several initiatives to improve the quality of acceptance testing. He has planned and directed research on various topics including use of crushed concrete as aggregate, impact of combined grading of aggregate, optimizing mixtures for performance, factors impacting the durability of concrete with an objective of recommending reliable test methods and acceptance criteria, and other programs. He has managed the activities of the NRMCA Research Laboratory by ensuring it maintains its accreditation status and improving its ability to support contract work for members and others. Karthik has developed and administered NRMCA courses on specifications and testing; and improving quality. He also instructs on other NRMCA educational programs and webinars. He has authored a book on Improving Concrete Quality and several technical papers and articles on concrete research, technology, and specifications.
He has proactively advocated for industry initiatives in industry guides and standards. He is an active member on various ASTM and ACI committees that support the use of supplementary cementitious materials, durability, strength testing, performance requirements for concrete, and other topics. He has chaired committees on fly ash at ACI, pervious concrete at ASTM, and the ACI Chapter in San Antonio. He is the recipient of many awards for his participation and initiatives; and for published papers. Karthik is also active on committees supporting transportation infrastructure at the Transportation Research Board and has actively participated with the National Concrete Consortium and the Federal Highway Administration.
Karthik lives in Maryland with his wife and two children. He is interested in spirituality and teaches Vedic heritage classes to children. His interests also include hiking, traveling, and investing in the stock market.
2021 Gaynor Award Recipient
Terence Holland, Consulting Engineer
Terence Holland has been involved in the concrete industry for more than 40 years. He is an independent consulting engineer specializing in the areas of concrete materials, codes and specifications, concrete durability, and concrete construction. He has consulted for concrete producers, contractors, concrete material developers, and has served as an expert witness in construction litigation. Throughout his career, Terry has emphasized the practical side of concrete technology, always remembering that concrete is specified, made, placed, and finished by people who are not materials scientists.
Terence Holland holds a bachelor’s degree from the US Military Academy at West Point holds Master of Engineering and Doctor of Engineering degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. He began his career as an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers with service in Vietnam and Korea. He worked as a research engineer at the US Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, MS. Terry was very active and instrumental in bringing silica fume to market in the US in the 1980s with some innovative uses for abrasion resistance, higher strength concrete, and high performance concrete for applications that required greater durability and extended service life. For a period, he headed up the Silica Fume Association. Before becoming a consultant, Terry worked in the admixture business, supporting market acceptance of traditional and innovative admixture products.
Terence Holland has been active in the American Concrete Institute for many years, serving on numerous technical and leadership committees. He is a past president and Honorary Member of the Institute. More recently Terry’s service has primarily been on ACI Committee 318 responsible for the Building Code for Structural Concrete. He has worked to clarify and improve code requirements for concrete construction. He has chaired the subcommittee responsible for concrete materials in the Code for more than 20 years and has successfully facilitated several revisions to improve Code requirements for concrete materials, durability, construction, and requirements and acceptance criteria for strength. He has been a strong proponent for industry initiatives to evolve industry standards to be more performance-based. Terry is also active with ASTM International in promoting harmony between ASTM standards and those of ACI. In his activity with industry standards, Terry has been a mentor and supporter of persons starting in the industry by providing them with opportunities to participate and contribute to progress in concrete technology and standards. Terry has interacted and has been supportive of initiatives of the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee.
Terry and his wife Laura reside in the Cleveland area. He enjoys bicycling and kayaking in northeast Ohio and has ventured on several bicycle excursions around the US and Europe.
2020 Gaynor Award Recipient
Jerry S. Haught P.E. Consulting Engineer
Jerry S. Haught has worked in the ready mixed concrete industry for more than 30 years. He most recently served as vice president of technical services for CEMEX, responsible for Florida and the Western U.S. Jerry retired from CEMEX in 2019 and is active as a consulting engineer.
Jerry S. Haught graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering from West Virginia University in 1981. He worked as a materials engineer with Williams and Associates in Clearwater, FL; a laboratory manager with KBC Consultants in Miami, FL and joined Rinker Materials in West Palm Beach, FL in 1989. He was responsible for quality control and laboratory activities, which at Rinker was a comprehensive and recognized program in the industry. His responsibilities expanded from covering a region to corporate technical manager responsible for developing and implementing the company’s corporate quality management initiatives throughout the US. In 2005, Jerry took on a more managerial role as a General Manager with responsibility in various regions in Florida. Following the Rinker acquisition by CEMEX, Jerry assumed responsibilities for operations, maintenance, environmental, and technical services of the company’s ready mixed concrete facilities in Florida.
Jerry has been a mentor and has influenced several people who continue to be successful and maintain credibility in the industry. Some may say he was a hard task master at the time. However, Jerry was never content with the status quo and demanded that the industry raise the bar on its technical proficiency, so that industry personnel are recognized as an important stakeholder and partner in building structures that were reliable, durable, and economically feasible. Besides espousing these virtues to his reports, he advocated for this expertise in his activity with several outside organizations where he took a leadership role.
Jerry has taken leadership roles at CMEC in Florida, the Florida Concrete & Products Association, ACI, and NRMCA. He was a member of ACI Committees on specifications (301), hot weather concrete (305), and high strength concrete (363). He made substantial contributions to the documents generated by these committees to include a practical perspective. He was a member of the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee and helped considerably with NRMCA research initiatives, advocacy on industry standards, and the P2P initiative to evolve specifications to performance. He chaired the plant certification task group that made several changes in content and policy during his tenure. This included an improved discussion with equipment manufacturers and development of an inspector’s guide and qualification process.
Jerry S. Haught is a professional engineer in Florida. He lives in Jupiter and enjoys riding his motorcycle, hunting and fishing.
2019 Gaynor Award Recipient
Frank Kozeliski, Consulting Materials Engineer
Gene Frank Kozeliski is a long-time veteran in the concrete industry. He was the owner of Gallup Sand & Gravel in Gallup, NM. The company has been a member of NRMCA since 1951. Frank sold the company in 2007. Since then he has continued his passion for concrete by educating, promoting, and developing innovative concepts. Frank has been a strong advocate of keeping things simple for the workers and technicians in the concrete industry. He is infamous for his aversion to the use of metric units and associated terminology!
Despite being from a small company in a relatively remote area, Frank has been active in ACI, ASTM International, NRMCA, ASCE, and World of Concrete. He is a member of Chi Epsilon, the National Civil Engineering Honor Society. His participation has involved gaining and disseminating knowledge. He is a Fellow and Honorary member of ACI and has served as the chair of ACI Committee 211. He is the recipient of the Delmar L. Bloem Distinguished Service Award and the Henry C. Turner Medal. He has been an instructor for ACI and WOC seminars on street paving, concrete parking lots, insulated concrete forms, white topping, and general concrete technology. He has offered these seminars in Spanish in several Latin American countries. He has taught and administered ACI certification programs in New Mexico and Honduras. Frank has been a delegate of the People to People Ambassador Program and presented seminars in China, Russia, and South Africa.
Frank Kozeliski is a past member of the NRMCA Board of Directors. He has been active on the Promotion and Research, Engineering, and Standards (RES) Committees. He was presented the lifetime achievement award from the Promotion Committee in 2011. Frank has been a pioneer on use of combined aggregate grading for concrete mixtures, commonly using four aggregate sizes in mixtures; in long haul deliveries extending from 3 to 6 hours to remote placements; and use of recycled materials like glass, paper, shredded rubber, and sludge pucky. Frank has been innovative in developing and promoting the use of pervious concrete. Frank has authored several papers and articles in industry magazines. He is known for taking research and innovation into practice and for refining and improving current practices and processes.
Frank Kozeliski graduated from New Mexico State University in 1967 and subsequently received an MS in Civil Engineering in 1969. He is a registered professional engineer in New Mexico, Texas, and Alabama. He lives with his wife Barbara of 49 years in Gallup and often visits his daughter, Leanna, and her family in Honduras. Frank’s son Michael is a Marine and a civil engineer and lives in Gallup. His recent hobbies include creating business cards, coasters, bowls, and gavels with cementitious mortars. He is on the advisory committee of the Gallup Senior Citizens center. He still loves concrete.
2018 Gaynor Award Recipient
Gene Daniel, Consulting Engineer
Gene Daniel is a long-time veteran in the concrete industry. He has most recently been in private practice as an engineer and consultant to the industry. Gene is famous for being a strong advocate for the small concrete producer. His participation in standards committees has always been directed to ensuring the right thing is done, good practice is promulgated, and things are kept simple to ensure that the job can get done.
Gene has been a principal in a firm that was involved in a wide range of design and construction activity; owner of a drilled shaft foundation construction company; has had a leadership role in a construction materials testing company for several years; and served as an expert witness for attorneys in construction litigation. In 1988 Gene joined Beaver Lake Concrete, a regional ready-mixed concrete company in NW Arkansas and SW Missouri that included 8 concrete plants and 2 sand and gravel pits. He worked his way through roles in operations, safety, technical services, and ultimately as President until he retired in 1997.
During his tenure at Beaver Lake Concrete, Gene was an active member of the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee. He served as the chair of the task group on plant certification. He has served on the NRMCA Board of Directors. Gene fondly remembers working on and butting heads with Dick Gaynor on several initiatives.
Gene has been an active member of ASTM International for 55 years primarily on subcommittees responsible for standards on ready mixed concrete, cement, aggregates, fresh concrete testing, and laboratory quality systems. He was made an Honorary Member of Committee C09 on Concrete and Aggregates in 2009. Gene’s participation in the American Concrete Institute spans 58 years with participation on committees on proportioning concrete, hot and cold weather concreting, residential concrete, parking lots, and the structural concrete specifications. He became a Fellow of ACI in 1998. In 2011, Gene was named as an Industry Influencer by the Concrete Producer magazine for his lifetime contributions and continued advocacy for the small producer.
Gene is a co-author of ASTM Manual 49, User’s Guide to ASTM Specification C94 on Ready-Mixed Concrete. He has authored the NRMCA Plant Inspector’s Guide that is used as the basis to approve inspectors for the NRMCA Plant Certification Program. In developing this guide, he visited a wide range of concrete plants in 43 states to better understand the variations in concrete production and standard practice. He is an approved inspector for the program and has inspected several plants for certification. He has been a key contributor to the development of the NRMCA Quality Certification program and served for a while as a third-party auditor for the program.
Gene Daniel has a Bachelors in Architectural Engineering from Oklahoma State University, a MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Arkansas and completed continuing education on Geologic Studies more recently. He is a registered professional engineer in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. Gene lives in Claremore, OK, close to his children, grandchildren, and recently a great granddaughter. Unfortunately, his wife of almost 62 years Wilma passed away in 2017. Gene assures us that she would be proud that he is being recognized with this NRMCA award for his lifetime contributions to the ready mixed concrete industry.
2017 Gaynor Award Recipient
Thomas H. Adams, Executive Director, American Coal Ash Association
Thomas H. Adams is the Executive Director of the American Coal Ash Association. Tom has over 35 years of experience in the ready mixed concrete industry serving in a variety of management positions in sales, marketing, technical services, and operations. He has held leadership roles with Michigan Concrete Association, American Concrete Institute, American Shotcrete Association, and currently at the American Coal Ash Association.
Tom began his career in the industry in a sales/technical service position with Ernst Concrete & Supply Company in Warren, MI in 1978. Stanley Ernst, Jr., encouraged Tom’s participation with the Michigan Ready Mixed Concrete Association and the NRMCA. Tom joined the NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee in 1980. He has since been an active member of the Committee in developing and supporting its various initiatives with the Concrete in Practice series, research and certification programs. He is a past chairman of the RES Committee.
Tom has served as the chair of the Promotion and Technical Committees of the Michigan Ready Mixed Concrete Association and the Chairman of the Board. In 1993 he joined the staff of the MRMCA as its president and worked to forge closer ties to the NRMCA. He initiated discussions with Dick Gaynor and NRMCA staff on the need to educate concrete salesmen. He worked with a small group to support the eventual development of the NRMCA Certified Concrete Sales Professional program. Tom has served on the NRMCA Board of Directors. He has presented numerous NRMCA events and webinars.
At the American Concrete Institute. Tom supported the local chapter activities. He moved on to become the executive director of the American Shotcrete Association, supporting the advancement of knowledge and use of shotcrete for various applications.
Tom accepted the position of executive director of the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA) in December 2008. This coincided with the massive coal ash spill at a power plant in Kingston, TN. This changed the focus of the ACAA and for the next several years he had to address technical, environmental, and general public concerns on the beneficial use of fly ash. He worked diligently with stakeholders to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating regulations which would classify fly ash and other coal combustion products as hazardous wastes. These regulations would have eliminated fly ash as a concrete-making material.
Tom continues to be active with the American Concrete Institute, ASTM International, the Electric Power Research Institute and works fly ash specifiers and users to communicate on the issues related to fly ash quality and supply resulting from the fast-changing energy industry and regulatory environment. Tom attended Wayne State University in Detroit, MI and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI studying business administration and strategic management. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, politics, and golf.
2016 Gaynor Award Recipient
Dr. Kenneth C. Hover, Professor, Cornell University
Dr. Ken Hover is Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Cornell University. Previously he served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Combat Engineers. His work experience includes Project Manager for Dugan and Meyers Construction Co. in Cincinnati, working on buildings, interstate bridges, and water treatment plants, and a Partner and Manager with THP Structural Engineers in Cincinnati engaged in the design and repair of buildings and industrial facilities. He holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Civil Engineering from University of Cincinnati, and a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Cornell University, the latter supported by an Exxon Fellowship. He is a licensed engineer in Ohio and New York.
Dr. Hover teaches reinforced and prestressed concrete design, concrete materials and construction management. He has received several awards as an educator. He has been a primary instructor in the National Highway Institute course for state highway agency personnel. His research has focused on freeze-thaw durability, optimizing concrete mixtures, fresh concrete testing and impact of construction operations and environment on concrete in-place quality. His research has always had a practical focus and has benefited the ready mixed concrete industry. He has worked closely with Dick Gaynor on various initiatives from pumping concrete to Code requirements for concrete materials. His research has generated more than 300 papers and reports. He has served as a consultant on more than 120 high-profile projects in the US and abroad.
Dr. Hover is a very accomplished speaker and presenter and has a flair for using unique props, examples, and humor to facilitate the understanding of complex concepts. He has delivered several presentations at NRMCA technical conferences and at industry seminars. He is the recipient of numerous awards from ACI, ASCE, ACPA and other local organizations. He is the past president of the American Concrete Institute and an active member of committees on specifications, hot and cold weather concreting and the Building Code for structural concrete. Dr. Hover has been a strong believer on performance-based specifications. He was the lead co-author on two of the first documents on performance based specifications in support of the NRMCA P2P Initiative. He supports the initiative through his ACI activities.
Ken enjoys reading (especially history, with a focus on the Battle of Gettysburg), and international languages (especially Spanish). He is a certified Lay Speaker in the United Methodist Church, and is a frequent substitute preacher in many churches in Upstate New York. Ken and his wife Deb live in Ithaca, New York.
2015 Gaynor Award Recipient
Dr. Nicholas J. Carino, Concrete Technology Consultant
Dr. Carino is a concrete technology consultant based in Cleveland and an affiliated consultant with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. Dr. Carino graduated with a BS, MS and PhD from Cornell University. He was an assistant professor at The University of Texas at Austin from 1974 to 1979. He retired from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2004, where he held the position of research structural engineer since 1979. He is an active participant in standards organizations and a strong proponent of performance-based requirements for concrete.
Dr. Carino is a world-renowned expert on non-destructive testing of concrete, primarily on the maturity method and other methods to evaluate the in-place strength of concrete and the impact-echo for detection of flaws. Dr. Carino was involved in various NIST structural investigations, including a safety assessment of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, determining the causes of failures and progressive collapse in buildings and transportation structures, and damage assessments following the Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes. He was a member of the NIST team that investigated the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and was the principal author of the team’s report on fire-resistive materials. He received several awards and recognitions from NIST for his contributions during his 25-year career. He has been a leader in standards development by various technical committees in ACI, ASTM and other groups. At ACI, he is a four-time recipient of the Wason Medal for Materials Research, and has received the following awards for his technical contributions to the industry: Delmar L. Bloem Award, Robert E. Philleo Award, Arthur R. Anderson Award and the ACI Construction Award. At ASTM, he has received the Award of Merit, Robert J. Painter Memorial Award, Frank E. Richart Award, Walter C. Voss Award, and the Katharine and Bryant Mather Award.
Dr. Carino is an Honorary Member of ACI, a Fellow of ASTM and a Life Member of ASCE. Dr. Carino has written many research papers and is a principal author of the Handbook on Nondestructive Testing of Concrete. Dr. Carino worked closely with Dick Gaynor to establish appropriate requirements for specifying and testing high-strength concrete. He was the lead author for ACI Innovation Task Group 8, which published a report on performance specifications.
Nick continues to be an active member of several ACI and ASTM Committees including ACI 318 on building code requirements and ACI 301 on specifications for structural concrete. His attention to detail is legendary and has resulted in significant improvements to new and existing standards that are vital to the ready mixed concrete industry. While Dr. Carino still remains professionally active in retirement as a consultant and educator, his hobbies include rugby (now only as a retired observer of the game), biking, and relaxing at his cabin on Lake Huron in Michigan.
2014 Gaynor Award Recipient
Gary Mullings, Senior Vice President Operations & Compliance NRMCA
Gary Mullings is the senior vice president of operations and compliance at the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. He manages the activities of the NRMCA Operations Environmental and Safety (OES) Committee. In this role he administers educational programs, awards programs and develops guidance on regulatory compliance for the industry. He advocates for the industry on regulations governing plants, trucks, safety and environmental management practices.
Gary is celebrating his 40th year at NRMCA. He spent a large portion of his early career at NRMCA at its Research Laboratory in College Park, Maryland. About 15 years ago, Gary took on the leadership of the operations and compliance department. He has been involved in many of the lab and field research programs at NRMCA including the use of returned concrete and wash water, durability tests, effects of pumping on concrete, strength testing, flowable fill and other pioneering research work. He is a co-author on several papers resulting from this work. He has authored several NRMCA publications on concrete technology and on operations, safety and environmental management practices. He has made contributions to industry standards on testing and use of concrete.
Gary is primary instructor in the NRMCA technical short course, plant manager course, environmental course, safety course and delivers a wide range of webinars on current issues impacting the industry. He administers the popular annual NRMCA Mixer Driver Championship and manages the fleet benchmarking survey, safety award, environmental excellence award and the fleet graphics award. Gary manages the NRMCA Green-Star Plant Certification program.
Throughout his career, Gary’s priority has been to ensure that NRMCA members and its customers get the service they desire in a timely manner. Gary is also the recipient of the Joseph E. Carpenter Award awarded by the OES Committee.
Gary Mullings and his wife Linda live in Silver Spring, Maryland. He has two married daughters and one granddaughter. His hobbies include golf, arrowhead hunting and tracking the genealogy of his family.
2013 Gaynor Award Recipient
Kenneth B. Rear, Retired Vice President Research, Heidelberg Technology Center
Kenneth B. Rear retired from the cement and concrete industries in 2007 after a career spanning 40 years. Mr. Rear holds a Civil Engineering Technology Certificate from the BC Institute of Technology in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Kenneth B. Rear served as vice president of research and support from 2000 to 2007 at the Heidelberg Technology Center, that offers research and engineering support to the Lehigh Cement Company. Prior to that Mr. Rear worked as a technical service manager from 1980 at Grace Construction Products in Vancouver, British Columbia and Cambridge Massachusetts He started his career in the industry in 1973 as a quality control manager in the ready mixed concrete, pipe and block industries with Ocean Construction Supplies in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Mr. Rear has been an active member of ASTM International and the American Concrete Institute (ACI). In his participation at ACI and the ACI Strategic Development Council, he has led the effort to promote the recognition of performance based specifications for concrete. Through his efforts, this has been recognized as an important initiative that will foster innovation and the advancement of concrete technology. Mr. Rear served as the chair of ACI’s Innovative Task Group (ITG) 8 that developed a comprehensive report on performance-based specifications in 2 years. His persistence resulted in the formation of a new ACI technical committee – ACI 329 – that is working on identifying and resolving barriers to performance in industry standards.
Mr. Rear has served on the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standard (RES) Committee and has been an active participant in its activities. He willingly accepted the co-chair of the P2P Steering Committee in 2002 and directed the activities of the P2P Initiative. P2P is an acronym for Prescription to Performance. He emphasized partnership of producers with contractors and working with the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC) and facilitated the understanding of performance-based business practices in Canada and other locations in the US. The P2P Initiative has gained broad recognition and is continuing to evolve in the consensus standards process at ACI and ASTM.
Mr. Rear and his wife Sheila spend their retirement between Maine with grandchildren and Florida working on his fishing skills. They also love traveling.
2012 Gaynor Award Recipient
Colin Lobo, NRMCA Senior Vice President of Engineering
Colin L. Lobo is Senior Vice President of the Engineering Division of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association in Silver Spring, Maryland. Besides managing the Engineering Division, his responsibilities include managing programs of NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards Committee and the NRMCA P2P Steering Committee, coordinate and report on some of the Association’s research studies, provide information to the membership and others, coordinate and administer NRMCA technical training programs, and develop NRMCA technical publications. Colin manages the NRMCA certification programs for Ready Mixed Concrete Production Facilities, Concrete Technologists and Pervious Concrete Contractors.
Colin has been with NRMCA since 1991.
Colin holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Civil Engineering from Mysore University in India. He received a Masters of Science Degree from Northeastern University in Boston and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He has published several papers as a result of his research work at Purdue and NRMCA.
Colin is an active member on various committees of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) and the American Concrete Institute (ACI). He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and participates in the technical committee work of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Colin has been a member of technical task groups and research panels of AASHTO and FHWA. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Maryland.
On ACI, Colin is a member of ACI Committees 318 (Building Code), 301 (Specifications), 214 (strength testing), 211 (mixture proportioning), and educational committee E701 on concrete materials. He serves as the recording secretary of ACI 301. He is a Fellow of the ACI.
On ASTM, Colin is a member of ASTM Subcommittees 09.94 data analysis, 09.96 (CCRL), 09.40 (ready mixed concrete), 09.60 (fresh concrete tests), 09.61 (strength testing), 01.10 (cement specifications) and many others. He serves as recording secretary for 09.60 and 09.40.
He serves as NRMCA’s representative on the FHWA Concrete Pavement Technology Program Engineering ETG (Task 65), Performance Specifications ETG, Mixture Optimization ETG, PCA’s Product Standards and Technology Subcommittee and other technical committees as pertinent to the goals of the NRMCA.
Colin has coordinated and reported on research activities at NRMCA related to measurement of water content in fresh concrete, use of wash water in ready mixed concrete, effects of reuse of returned concrete on concrete properties, testing high strength concrete and cores, alkali silica reactivity tests, reuse of returned concrete, maturity of high volume fly ash concrete, concrete durability research and several smaller research projects.
2011 Gaynor Award Recipient
Ken Day, Retired, Concrete Advice, Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia
Ken Day is a world renowned expert on concrete quality control. He fashions himself as an evangelistic concrete technologist willing to preach to anyone willing to listen. Ken’s expertise has been on concrete mix design, quality control and specifications. He has worked in the ready mixed concrete and precast industries. He has also worked as a consulting structural engineer, a university lecturer, and a general investigator and legal expert witness of defective concrete.
Ken Day is a pioneer in developing computerized mix design methodology and statistical quality control of concrete. He has used aggregate specific surface concepts in his mix design process to achieve workable concrete mixtures for different placement methods. He has developed multigrade, multivariable cusum (cumulative sum) methodology for quality control by which the various measured properties of concrete can be evaluated to identify the potential for failures before they occur. These concepts were used to develop the ConAd software that is now incorporated in software provided by a major company providing services to the concrete industry. His concepts have been used on several international high profile projects, but one that he is proudest of is when it was used by his younger son, John, to control concrete production for Petronas Towers, at that time the world’s tallest building, and a standard deviation of 450 psi was attained on the last 200 results of concrete strengths averaging over 14,000 psi.
Since the mid 1950s, Ken Day has authored numerous papers and presented at various international conferences across the globe in on a wide range of topics on concrete technology, most of which are posted on his website www.kenday.id.au. He is also author of the internationally acclaimed book – Concrete Mix Design, Quality Control and Specification, now in its 3rd edition.
Ken Day has been a strong proponent of the evolution towards performance-based specifications for concrete and was personally responsible for bringing about the current system of specification on this basis in Australia 30 years ago. In more recent years he has been very supportive of the NRMCA P2P Initiative and has written and spoken at many venues in support of his contention that performance specifications, passing control of mix design and quality control to the concrete producer, are essential for the achievement of low variability and optimum performance.
Ken Day graduated from Manchester University in the UK in 1952. He is an Honorary Member of the Concrete Institute of Australia; Fellow of the Institute of Engineers, Australia; Fellow of the Institute of Concrete Technologists, U.K.; Fellow of the American Concrete Institute and received a lifetime achievement award from CANMET/ACI.
At age 80, having nominally retired ten years ago, he is still determined to bring about P2P in USA and to complete a final 4th edition of his book.
2011 Gaynor Award Recipient
Edwin R. Dunstan, ERD Consultants, LLC
Edwin R. Dunstan Jr. is currently “semi-retired” and continues to remain active in the concrete industry as a Concrete Materials Consultant and as a Concrete Materials Instructor and Examiner for Construction Materials Engineering Council (CMEC) in Orlando, Florida.
Mr. Dunstan has worked as a concrete materials engineer for 38 years. From 1972-1980 he was a Quality Control and Research Engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Denver Colorado. From 1980-1988, he worked as an independent Concrete Materials Consultant and Educator in Colorado. He joined Florida Mining and Materials in 1988 as a Concrete Materials-Quality Control Engineer and remained with the company through acquisitions by Southdown and Cemex. He retired from Cemex in August 2008 as Director of Technical Services, Ready Mix.
Mr. Dunstan has devoted considerable effort during his career towards identifying factors that impact the quality and performance of concrete towards optimizing concrete for performance and cost. He has been involved in research and practical use of fly ash in concrete. Mr. Dunstan is the author of numerous papers about concrete strength modeling, durability of fly ash concrete and other topics. He is the author and instructor for Online Training courses for Concrete Basics and Optimizing Concrete Mixtures. He has published about 30 technical papers. He holds a patent on a fly ash cement made using no portland cement.
Since 1978, Mr. Dunstan has been an active member of several ASTM Committees on cement, concrete, building performance and non destructive testing. He has served on the ASTM Committee C09 executive committee and was vice chair of the Committee. He was named an Honorary Member of Committee C09 in 2008.
Mr. Dunstan has over 20 years of service with the CMEC in Florida. He has served as CMEC chairman and continues to support CMEC activities on laboratory accreditation, education, and certification of personnel. He is a CMEC instructor and examiner for ACI certification programs, NRMCA Level II certification, PCI Level 1 & II. Q/C. technician certification and the Florida ready mix batch plant operator certification.
Mr. Dunstan has served on the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standard (RES) Committee for more than 20 years and indicates that this participation has been his favorite and most enjoyable. He has contributed to several initiatives of the Committee and served one term as the chairman. He has also been active participant on the activities and projects of P2P steering committee. He indicates he met Dick Gaynor at ASTM in 1978 and has valued that relationship.
Mr. Dunstan holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Engineering from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Colorado and Florida. Mr. Dunstan lives in Brooksville, Florida, with his wife of 41 years, Cle. they have one son. Ed enjoys writing and teaching concrete technology. His hobbies include family genealogy and traveling.
2010 Gaynor Award Recipient
Lawrence R. Roberts, Roberts Consulting Group, LLC
Larry Roberts is the manager of the Roberts Consulting Group, LLC in Acton Massachusetts. Prior to starting his independent consulting career, Larry was a principal scientist from 2006 to 2008 with CTLGroup in Skokie, Illinois. He is most likely recognized in the industry for his tenure of 38 years at Grace Construction Products from where he retired in 2006. During his time at Grace, Larry served in a variety of technical functions including Key Accounts Technical Manager, Director of Technical Services, Director of Technology Planning and Transfer, and Technical Fellow. During his time in research Larry was involved with development of grinding aids and masonry cement additives for the cement industry, and air entrainers, water reducers, accelerators, superplasticizers and microsilica additives for concrete. A special interest of his has been the application of simple calorimetric techniques for understanding the interaction of cements and supplementary cementitious materials with admixtures, and the pro-active application of these techniques to problem prevention.
Larry is the author of numerous papers and chapters about cement and concrete, in the areas of concrete testing, superplasticizers, automated air void analysis of hardened concrete, cement-admixture interactions, high strength concrete, microsilica, resource recovery, and corrosion protection of concrete. He holds patents in novel fly ash concretes, artificial aggregates, cement mill control techniques, and superplasticizers for concrete.
Larry is a member of several ASTM Committees on cement and concrete. He is an active participant and contributor to standards development on Hydraulic Cement, Chemical Admixtures, Sulfate Content in cements, Ready Mixed Concrete, and Properties of Fresh Concrete subcommittees. He is a recipient of the Katharine and Bryant Mather Member Contribution Award and the ASTM Award of Merit. Larry has been involved in the International Cement Microscopy Association and on ACI Committees on Hydraulic Cement, Chemical Admixtures and Curing. He has also been active on the ACI Strategic Development Council.
Larry has been a long time member of the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee, during which time he enjoyed tremendously working with Dick Gaynor, and of the P2P Steering Committee. He has made significant contributions on developing technical publications, advising on industry research and providing strategic direction on the move to performance specifications for concrete.
Larry holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts, and a Master’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston, both in Chemistry.
Larry lives in Acton, Massachusetts with his wife of 41 years, Christa. They have two children, John and Mark, and four grandchildren. Larry’s hobbies include military history, model railroading and photography. He is an accomplished cook and is a connoisseur of fine food and wines.
2009 Gaynor Award Recipient
James Cook, Tarmac Titan America
Jim Cook retired in 2008 as Director of Technical Services for Florida from Tarmac, Titan America, LLC. He has more than 50 years experience in ready-mix and concrete materials. He started in the industry as a truck dispatcher with Hardaway Concrete in Columbia, SC in 1958. Twenty-five years of his career was with Gifford-Hill & Company in Dallas, Texas, most recently as Vice President of Technical Services. He joined Tarmac in 1994.
Jim is a Fellow of ACI and has been a member for more than 40 years. He is former Chair of ACI 363, High Strength Concrete, and of ACI 214, Evaluation of Strength Test Results. During his tenure as Chair, ACI 214 produced a complete revision of “Evaluation of Strength Test Results of Concrete” (ACI 214R-02) and a new committee report, “Guide for Obtaining Cores and Interpreting Compressive Strength Results” (ACI 214.4R-03). He also serves on ACI 211, Mixture Proportioning and ACI 232, Fly Ash and Natural Pozzolan. Jim has published work and delivered presentations on the use of fly ash and mechanical properties of high strength concrete. Some of his work has resulted in revisions to acceptance criteria for high strength concrete in the Building Code, ACI 318.
Cook has been a long-time member of the RES Committee and made several contributions towards the Committee’s work.
Cook received ACI’s Roger H. Corbetta Concrete Constructor Award in 1995 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the advancement of concrete as a construction material. He has received the Delmar Bloem award from ACI for his tenures as Committee chairman. He was inducted into the Engineering Hall of Achievement at the University of Texas at Arlington in 1985, in recognition of his significant contribution made to the engineering profession.
Cook lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife Cecelia. They will celebrate their 50-year anniversary in June. Special recognition is due to Cecelia for the support to the family while Jim pursued his career. They have three children, sons Noel (deceased), Mark and daughter Stephanie Spivey. Cook’s hobbies include boating, golf and showing off his 1950 V-8 Pilot restored car at British Car Shows. Cook serves on the Board of Directors of the Jacksonville Area Golf Association.
2008 Gaynor Award Recipient
Ward Malisch, ASCC
Ward Malisch retired in 2007 as Senior Managing Director at the American Concrete Institute and is currently in a part-time role as the Technical Director of the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC). He retains a role with ACI as publisher of the ACI’s Concrete International magazine. Ward has served as Editor-in-Chief of Concrete Construction magazine, Director of the World of Concrete seminar program and Director of Construction Information Services for the Portland Cement Association. He has a BS, MS and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. He’s a registered professional engineer and has also managed a materials testing laboratory, made structural quality control inspections during construction of a nuclear power plant, and taught materials engineering at several universities.
Ward Malisch is a proficient writer and editor with a special interest in educating concrete contractors. He has given many presentations and authored more than 50 papers and articles on concrete materials and construction. His main interests have been floor and slab construction and behavior, construction tolerances, and specification issues. He is the person behind the ASCC Hotline who responds to contractor’s questions. He has been a periodic and involved participant on the NRMCA’s Research Engineering and Standards Committee and has contributed his editorial expertise and knowledge with the Concrete in Practice Series and other NRMCA technical publications. He plans to continue his activity with the NRMCA by providing a contractor’s perspective in the P2P Initiative.
Early in his career, Ward received a Young Engineer of the Year Award from the Missouri Society of Professional Engineers, and six Outstanding Teacher Awards while on the civil engineering staff at the University of Missouri-Rolla. In 2004 he received the Arthur Y. Moy Award for Outstanding Service in the Field of Concrete Technology from the Greater Michigan Chapter of ACI. In 2006 he was recognized by the Construction Writers Association with the Silver Hard Hat award for Service to the Construction Industry—their highest honor. Ward is also a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute.
Ward and his wife Barb live in the Detroit area with Charlie, their pet Shih Tzu. Besides endlessly playing fetch the ball with Charlie, Ward’s hobbies include cooking; reading nonfiction, especially history and biographies; and skiing at least once every three years.
2007 Gaynor Award Recipient
Anthony E. Fiorato, CTL Group
Anthony (Tony) Fiorato joined the Construction Technology Laboratories (now CTLGroup) as a Structural Engineer in 1973 advancing up to the position of Vice President, Materials Technology. In 1989 Tony moved over to the Portland Cement Association and ultimately headed up the Research and Technical Services Department. In 1999 Tony assumed the position of President and CEO of the CTLGroup. Tony received his B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Drexel University and his MS and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received a distinguished alumni award from UI in 2004. He is a licensed structural engineer in Illinois and maintains professional engineer’s licenses in the states of Arizona, Michigan and Ohio.
Tony’s professional and research experience includes complex structural analysis and design, heat transfer and thermal performance of building assemblies, seismic design, use of concrete in arctic environments and various initiatives on specifications, testing and properties of high strength, normal, and lightweight concretes. He has authored more than 50 papers on his research and technical interests.
As the Vice President of the Research and Technical Services department of the PCA, Tony managed the research and standardization activities of the Product Standards and Technology Committee. He has ensured close communication between the PS&T committee and the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee by his active participation and sharing of information on research, technical information and initiatives by both groups. This close networking has enabled the cement and the ready mixed concrete industries to better understand each other’s needs and challenges, and meet their goals more effectively.
Tony has served in various leadership positions. He was the President of ACI in 2004 and the Chairman of the Board of ASTM International in 2006. He has chaired several technical committees within these organizations ensuring fair discourse and deliberation of the technical issues. Tony has been recognized with receiving the prestigious ACI Henry L. Kennedy award and Henry C. Turner medal and the A.J. Boase Award of the Reinforced Concrete Research Council.
Tony and his wife Cathy live in the Chicago area Tony has announced his retirement as President of CTL Group in June, but he will continue to work with the firm and will serve as Chairman of the Board.
2006 Gaynor Award Recipient
Jon Mullarky, Consultant, FHWA
Jon Mullarky joined the staff of NRMCA and the National Sand and Gravel Association in 1971, following his discharge from active duty in the United States Navy. Early accomplishments in his career with the Associations’ Engineering Divisions included work on the famous NRMCA Truck Mixer Studies, and Jon co-authored several of the Study reports with Richard Gaynor. Jon also assisted Mr. Gaynor in the conceptual design and construction of the Joint Research Laboratory Building, located in College Park, MD.
In 1974 Jon transitioned to NRMCA’s fledgling marketing program. His visionary leadership resulted in stronger ties with the Portland Cement Association and State Associations. He also established innovative programs to promote concrete parking lot paving, flowable fill and the environmental advantages of concrete construction. Jon helped to found the Ready Mixed Concrete Technology Program at Middle Tennessee State, and the Ready Mixed Concrete 2000 movement.
When Dick Gaynor retired, Jon became NRMCA’s Vice President of Engineering at which point he was the staff liaison to the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee. He was instrumental in obtaining AASHTO Accreditation for the Joint Research Laboratory, and initiated a long-term field study of the properties of flowable fill.
Jon left the NRMCA staff in 1997 to join a consulting firm providing contract services to the Federal Highway Administration. He is currently the Senior Project Engineer for FHWA’s Mobile Concrete Laboratory and a consultant to FHWA’s Office of Pavement Technology.
Throughout his career Jon has worked on technical and educational committees of ACI and ASTM. He is currently serving on the ACI Board of Directors, and received the Institutes Henry L. Kennedy Award in 2005. He holds engineering degrees from Iowa State University and The Ohio State University and is a Registered Professional Engineer.
Jon lives on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where he pursues his hobby of sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.
2005 Gaynor Award Recipient
C. Patrick McFarlane, Oldcastle Materials
Pat McFarlane began his career in the concrete industry in 1973 with Central Pre-Mix Concrete Company of Spokane, Washington immediately upon graduation from Brigham Young University. His 32 years to date with the same company started as a materials testing laboratory technician and has followed a career path of increasing responsibility as Laboratory Manager, Corporate Quality Control Manager, Portable Concrete Division Manager, Operations Manager, Vice President of Central Pre-Mix Concrete Company and the last 7 years as President of Interstate Concrete Company.
Pat has been actively involved on several NRMCA Committees and it’s Board of Directors. He began his participation on the NRMCA Research, Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee in 1977. He has been very active on many RES Committee Task Groups with a keen interest and involvement in Personnel Certification, quality control and quality assurance specifications, concrete pavement construction, specifications and testing and has contributed to the development of the Concrete in Practice series. Pat has always been vocal to ensure that the activities of the Committee have benefits to the smaller producer members.
Pat served as Chairman of the RES Committee from 1999 to 2004. During his tenure, the P2P Initiative was formed to progress the industry towards performance based specifications.
Pat has served several terms on the NRMCA Board of Directors and it’s Executive Committee. At the conclusion of this convention he has accepted a nomination to serve another term on the NRMCA Board of Directors.
Pat and his lovely wife, Corla, live in Spokane, Washington. They have 5 children, 2 of which are currently serving two year service missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Pat enjoys jogging and is always ready to go fishing. He is active in community and church activities, as well as the Boy Scouts of America.
2004 Gaynor Award Recipient
Norm Nelson, Lyman Richey Corporation
Norm Nelson began his career in the concrete industry in 1976 at the Portland Cement Association in Omaha, NE. A Nebraska Field Engineer, his focus was on the general promotion of concrete. Soon after, Norm became PCA’s Regional Paving Engineer. He joined the Lyman-Richey Corporation in 1987 to focus on technical services and marketing, where he has remained to the present day.
Norm graduated with a civil engineering degree from University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1967. He is a registered professional engineer in 4 states. Norm has been active on several NRMCA Committees and its Board of Directors. He first served on the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee in the late 80s and is still an active member of the Committee. He has been a strong supporter of the development of research to help answer the challenges faced by concrete producers in areas such as the selection of materials and proportioning of concrete mixtures to provide superior performance.
Norm is a tireless worker for good test methods and standards for the use of concrete to its best advantage in many applications, but particularly for concrete as a quality paving material for highways, streets, parking lots, driveways, and airfields. Norm co-authored an ASCE paper on the problems with the use of flexural strength in FAA concrete paving specifications and inspection. His efforts helped get the word out, and it improved specifications and testing.
Norm chaired the RES committee for two terms from 1994 through 1997. Norm has been very active representing the ready mixed concrete industry on technical committees of ASTM, ICAR and the Transportation Research Board. He has served on various expert panels monitoring transportation research programs.
Norm has been active on the NRMCA Government Affairs and Promotion Committees. He has served on the NRMCA Board since 1993; the NRMCA Executive Committee and was the Chairman of the Board in 2001. Norm has served on the Board of Trustees of the RMC Research Foundation.
Norm and Ginny live in Omaha, Nebraska surrounded by son and daughter and 4 grandchildren. Norm passions include Nebraska football, hunting and fishing. He is active in the Lions Club, church activities and the local chamber of commerce.
2003 Gaynor Award Recipient
Andrew W. Young, Lafarge NA
Andy Young began his career in the ready mixed concrete industry at Cornell-Young Company in 1962 in Macon Georgia. He became president of Cornell-Young in 1978 and worked in that capacity serving as its president until the company was purchased by Blue Circle in 1978. He continued his career with Blue Circle as a division president for Blue Circle Materials and recently retired from Lafarge NA.
Andy graduated with an engineering degree from Auburn University and served on active duty in the Army Reserves.
Andy has been active on several NRMCA Committees and its Board of Directors. He first served on the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee in 1974 and was active until his recent retirement. His primary focus was in the development of Concrete In Practice (CIP) topics, strength of flowable fill, quality assurance specifications and the NRMCA Plant Certification Program. Andy also took a keen interest in the RES Committee’s education and certification programs and served as liaison with the NRMCA Educational Activities Committee. In 1995 and 1996 Andy was RES Committee Chairman, and he served on the NRMCA Board of Directors from 1995–2002.
Andy and his wife Pam now live on Amelia Island, Florida. They split their time between there and their home in Macon to be with their children and three grandsons.
2002 Gaynor Award Recipient
T. Michael Kaney, Cemex USA
T. Michael Kaney began his career in the concrete industry in 1956 with Cone Brothers Contracting Company and Tampa Sand & Materials Company. He has been with Florida Mining & Materials / Moore McCormick / Southdown / Cemex USA since 1970. Mike retired recently as Senior Vice President of the Concrete Products Group. He continues to stay active in the industry and with NRMCA. Mike served in the US Army Corps of Engineers in Southeast Asia between 1962 and 1964. He graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering in 1961.
Mike has been active on several NRMCA Committees and its Board of Directors since the mid 80s. He was the Chairman of NRMCA Board in 1995. His involvement with the RES Committee dates back to 1986. His attendance record to RES Committee meetings is hard to beat. His primary interests have been in the NRMCA Plant Certification program and the use of industrial wastewater in concrete. He continues to represent NRMCA in the National Partnership for Highway Quality in their quest for improved quality in transportation construction.
Mike has been a strong supporter and a critic, when appropriate, of the RES Committee programs and activities. He has helped with both the development of the programs and with their incorporation in specifications and in practice.
Mike and his wife Jana alternate between Tampa and North Carolina and have three children, Leigh, Laura and Michael.
2001 Gaynor Award Recipient
Richard C. Meininger, Consultant, FHWA
Richard Meininger joined the staff of NRMCA and the National Aggregates Association (NAA) in 1964 after he obtained his MS in Civil Engineering from the University of Maryland. All those years he worked with the Dick Gaynor in a team that established the stature, respect and credibility that the Engineering Division of NRMCA and NAA has in the technical community. Working with Dick, in itself, deserves a special award.
When the joint association staff was split in 1996, Rick moved over with NAA and continued with them in several positions including the acting president, until he retired in 1999.
Rick is a Fellow of ACI and ASTM and has received numerous awards from both organizations. In representing the aggregates and concrete industries, he has served on various technical Committees of ACI, ASTM, the Transportation Research Board, the Strategic Highway Research Program, and other organizations and is a recipient of numerous awards in recognition of his contributions.
Rick has worked on planning and conducting the Association’s technical courses and seminars, consulting with member companies on specific problems, directed the activities at the Associations’ Alfred H. Smith Joint Research Laboratory, and served as staff liaison with the RES Committee. With the RES Committee, Rick has been instrumental in developing the Plant Certification program in its early days, coordinated the development of the Plant Operators Manual and written or edited various CIPs. He has also authored various publications on porous pavements, flexural strength specifications, fly ash, returned concrete, etc.
Rick continues to be active as a consultant on construction materials and has several high profile projects with ACI and FHWA. He lives with his wife, Cynthia in Columbia Maryland and has three children and several grandchildren.
2000 Gaynor Award Recipient
Earl F. Callison, Jr., Walt Keeler Company
Earl F. Callison, Jr. began his career in the ready mixed concrete business with the Walt Keeler Company, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas, in 1949. Earl joined the Navy in 1950 and served in the Korean War after which he returned to the Keeler Company in 1954. Earl served in all capacities at the Keeler Company from dispatching, bookkeeper, purchasing, personnel, sales, batchman, driver, loader operator and yard supervisor. He was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer in 1975 and remained in that position until November 1996 when the company was sold to Allen’s Concrete, Inc., where he continues to be involved on a limited basis.
Earl graduated from Wichita State University with a degree in Engineering in 1959. He is involved and has had leadership roles in various civic activities in the Wichita area.
Earl has been active on NRMCA Committees for several years. He was Chairman of the Committees on Environmental Problems, Education, Promotion and Long Range Planning. Earl was the NRMCA Chairman of the Board in 1983. He is also a past president of the Kansas Ready Mixed Concrete Association.
Earl has been an active participant on the RES Committee, even in recent years. Earl has been the champion of the smaller producer and has directed the RES Committee’s work towards developing resources for them. In 1983, he presented a paper titled Assessing Cement Quality in the USA at the ERMCO meeting in London in. He was instrumental in developing several popular NRMCA publications such as the Driver’s Manual, and the Concrete Plant Operator’s Manual. Earl was involved in developing the first NRMCA Troubleshooting Seminar. More recently, he was actively monitoring developments in performance-related and QA/QC specifications resulting in the NRMCA Guideline Manual for Quality Control/Quality Assurance.
Earl has been married to Karol for 45 years, has two children and five grandchildren.
1999 Gaynor Award Recipient
Larry Asel, Concrete Company of Springfield
Larry Asel joined the NRMCA Engineering and Standards Committee in 1971 and was Chairman of the committee for four years in the mid-70’s. Larry has maintained an amazing, near-perfect attendance record with the Committee even in recent times. He has always pitched in to contribute to the Committee’s work and is an active participant at the meetings.
Larry graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1950. He joined the ready mixed concrete industry in 1954 as an Engineer with the Stewart Sand and Material Company. In 1968 he joined the Concrete Company of Springfield, in Springfield, Missouri as the Technical Director. Larry went into semi-retirement in 1992 and continues to be active at ConCo.
With the NRMCA RES Committee, Larry has always provided a practical perspective and has directed Committee activities towards helping the smaller concrete producer. Larry was instrumental in starting the popular Concrete in
Practice (CIP) information sheets for customers of ready mixed concrete, and has written or edited all 29 in the series. He has been active on the Pavements Task Group, especially with trying to get the Federal Aviation Administration to accept concrete on compressive strength, rather than flexural beam tests. Larry feels strongly about the deficiencies with concrete acceptance testing and has contributed to Committee efforts to improve the situation.
Larry lives with his wife, Jerre, in Springfield and has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. He enjoys traveling both abroad and in the U.S. and does cross the pond to visit Europe quite often.
1998 Gaynor Award Recipient
Fred F. Bartel, Tews Lime & Cement Company
Fred joined NRMCA in 1940 when he was awarded the first Stanton Walker Fellowship established by NRMCA at the University of Maryland. It was the beginning of a program based on two years of research leading to a Masters Degree on a subject of interest to NRMCA. His BS Degree was in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin. Next he served in the Army Air Corps where he rose to the rank of Captain. In 1946 he returned to NRMCA as Assistant to the Director of Engineering, Stanton Walker. At this time the first of the Maryland Short Courses on Concrete and Aggregates was started. Fred was an instructor and had a part in an effort which had its 52nd anniversary this past year.
In 1949 Fred joined Tews Lime & Cement Co. In Milwaukee as their Chief Engineer. He served on the NRMCA Committee on Standards shortly thereafter. When that Committee was combined with the Committee on Cement in about 1951 he became Chairman. That committee sponsored NRMCA’s Cement Variability studies, which were published in ASTM in 1954 and 1963. While presiding over the Standards Committee the program for certification of Ready Mixed Concrete production Facilities was developed. In the sometimes heated debates over the program, Fred was convincing in his opinion that the program should be made available to all ready mixed concrete producers – members and nonmembers alike. The objective was to upgrade the industry as a whole.
During this period he also active on the ASTM Subcommittee on Ready Mixed Concrete, C 94, and served for 12 years as Secretary and 13 years as Chairman of the Subcommittee.
One meeting Fred remembers most was the Standards Committee meeting in Las Vegas at the time the Green Bay Packers played the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. As a Packer fan the opportunity of presiding at that meeting was pure dedication!
When Fred was made President of Tews in 1975 he resigned as Chairman of both the NRMCA Standards Committee and the ASTM Subcommittee on C 94. However he remained active on both. In 1979 Fred was elected Chairman of the Board of NRMCA and in 1984 after his retirement from Tews, Fred was made an Honorary Member of the NRMCA Board of Directors for life.
Although Fred lost his wife, Ann, years ago, he still lives at his family home in Milwaukee.
1998 Gaynor Award Recipient
Melvin W. Flanagan, Walt Flanagan & Company
Mel Flanagan was a long time active member of the NRMCA Research, Engineering, and Standards Committee until about 1994 and has been a supporter and participant in many NRMCA activities.
Mel’s father, Walt Flanagan, was in the sand and gravel business and became a concrete contractor in 1921 in the Denver area. Mel started working for his father’s business at the tender age of six, first as a water boy and moving up to laborer and concrete finisher. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944. After his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Mel started a trucking company consisting of 3 Ford single axle dump trucks and traded sand, rock, and pit-run gravel with various sand and gravel companies in the Denver area.
He attended Denver University in the Civil Engineering program for two years. When his father became seriously ill, he had to quit school to manage the contracting business. Mel still regrets that he did not have an opportunity to complete his studies.
Mel and his father started a ready mix operation, the Walt Flanagan & Co., Inc. primarily to supply material for their contracting business. With Mel at the helm, the ready mixed business grew due to significant demand, and consisted of 7 batch plants and around 150 trucks when it was sold to the Cooley Gravel Company in 1992.
Mel was active in the RES Committee and notes that he enjoyed working in this committee as the staff and fellow Committee members were very dedicated to improving the quality and performance of the very best building material, concrete. Mel always stressed on product quality in his efforts to improve the image of the industry. He was Chairman of the RES Committee for three years from 1989 to 1991. He was supportive of the Associations’ Joint Research Laboratory and was instrumental in getting the lab to purchase of its 1 million pound testing machine. He also served as Vice Chairman of Rocky Mountain Region of the NRMCA Promotion Committee. He served on the NRMCA Board of Directors for 5 years.
Mel has been active in the Colorado Ready Mixed Concrete Association, where he was president in 1965-66 and is now a lifetime honorary board member.
Since retirement, Mel has been keeping busy working with his collection of antique firearms and automobiles. He keeps getting injured playing golf but has become proficient at gin rummy and given the chance is ready to open a casino.
1998 Gaynor Award Recipient
Herbert L. Harger, Con Rock Company
Herb first became active in NRMCA (and NAA) in the late 1960c serving as a member of the NRMCA Committee on Research and Standards and as an early, if not the first Chairman of the Committee on Environmental Problems.
He is a Civil Engineer, having graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957 after service in the Navy. On graduation he worked briefly as a mathematician and then for six years a Resident Engineer with the California Division of Highways. He came to our industry in 1957 as an engineer for the Con Rock Co., now Cal Mat. In that position he was involved in or responsible for the design and construction of both concrete and aggregate plants. He is a registered as both a Civil and a Mechanical engineer in California.
Over the years he advanced to the position of Executive Vice President of Con Rock in 1981, and retired to private practice in 1984. During this time he was one of the many Cal Mat / Con Rock employees that contributed significantly to the activities of NRMCA / NAA and their local associations.
Herb presented a series of papers at NAA–NRMCA Convention that dealt with the then exploding water and air pollution regulations as the were first being applied to our industries. These papers were the basis for a number of important NRMCA–NAA Publications. His 1974 paper “A System for 100% Recycling of Returned Concrete” was a description of a operating plant in Los Angeles and it provided a fundamental basis for the reuse of wash water and recycled concrete that was approved by ASTM C 94 and the California Department of Highways.
In the early 1980s Herb served on the NRMCA Board of Directors and its Executive Committee Today he is still active in the Southern California Chapter of ACI and resides in Manhattan Beach, CA with his lovely wife Jean.
1998 Gaynor Award Recipient
Edward L. Howard, RMC Lonestar
Ed Howard was a member of the NRMCA Committee on Standards from 1946 through 1976, and he served as its chairman from 1974 to 1976. Additionally, he was a member of the NRMCA Board of Directors from 1974 to 1976.
As a young man, Ed started work with the US Bureau of Reclamation’s Control Section on the Hoover Dam in 1934. It was here that he was a pioneer in developing the use of sulfur caps for testing concrete cylinders. In 1941 he joined Pacific Cement and Aggregates Company, later to become Lone Star Industries and finally RMC Lonestar. He retired from RMC Lonestar in 1976. During his career he had an opportunity to work for and with many of the notable researchers of his time, including Joe Kelly, T.E. Stanton and R. E. Davis. Ed is a past member of the American Concrete Institute, Society of American Military Engineers, American Society for Testing and Materials, and the American Society for Quality Control.
Ed remembers attending the first Short Course at the University of Maryland in 1946 when the choice was between flying or taking the train. Some of the work of the Standards Committee that he remembers best was the Certification Program of Ready Mixed Concrete Plants and Facilities, personnel certification, and early work on moisture meters. He found the NRMCA Committee activity interesting and challenging, so much so that he almost lost his job when NRMCA published the results of the studies of the Variability of Portland Cement.
On retirement Ed and his wife did a 5-year commitment for their Church in Chili and now lives in Veradale, Washington with his daughter and son in-law, Pat McFarlane. His son, Nate Howard, former Director of Technical Services for Lone Star Northwest, also lives nearby.
1998 Gaynor Award Recipient
Donald J. Peters, Genstar Stone Products Company
Don first became active in NRMCA as a member of the then two engineering committees, on “Standards” and on “Research and Engineering”. When these two committees were combined in 1976 he became their Chairman and served for four years.
Don is a native of Baltimore and his father was a finish carpenter. After a couple of years with the Maryland State Highway Administration he came to work in the laboratory at the Harry T. Campbell & Sons Co., (later Flintcote Stone Products Co. and then Genstar Stone Products Co.). In 1964 Don was awarded a BS Degree in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Although we had known Don through the Campbell Company’s participation and support of NRMCA and NSGA, one of Don’s early contributions was his participation as a speaker giving two papers at NRMCA’s first “Conference on Pollution Control” in Chicago in 1972. Early in his work with the Research Engineering and Standards Committee Don accepted a leadership role in the cooperative work with the Portland Cement Association to develop what was to become the ASTM Method for Evaluation of Cement Strength Uniformity from a Single Source” C917. During the period from 1972 to 1986 he produced more than 20 papers of topical interest to the ready mixed concrete industry. They covered such things as: quality control, air and water pollution, recycling, cement variability, quality control of ready mixed concrete, statistical analysis and statistically orientated specifications.
His dedicated service to NRMCA includes:
- Chairman, NRMCA Committee on Research, Engineering and Standards, 1976 – 82
- Member, NRMCA Board of Directors, 1976 – 86
- Member, Executive Committee, 1981 – 82
- Member, Long Range Planning Committee, 1978 – 84
- Member, NRMCA/NSGA Joint Committee on Energy Conservation, 1982,-,84
In 1987 Don became the President and COO of American Stone-Mix, Inc. This was the Packaged Materials Division of Genstar Stone Products that was spun off when Redland acquired Genstar. As such they are the largest producer of SAKRETE cement mixes and driveway sealer products. They also furnish a variety of other construction products and run a flowable fly ash fill operation.
Don lives with his wife Loretta in Bladwin, MD and after a brief period of chasing small white balls is now back to his real avocation – fly fishing in salt water – where he is a recognized expert.
1998 Gaynor Award Recipient
Ralph Vencill, Materials Service Corporation
Ralph became a member of the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards Committee in1971and was active for over 20 years. During much of that time he served as the Chairman of the Task Group on Laboratory Certification and was involved when NRMCA petitioned the Department of Commerce for development of the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program. His contributions to the work of the Committee were from his extensive practical knowledge of field practice and conditions. Often his observations and good humor were instrumental in keeping the Committee on track.
In part this came from the fact that after service in the Navy he came back and worked for several consulting engineering firms that were involved in the construction of toll roads, including the Illinois Toll Road. In 1961 he went to work with Material Service Corporation in Chicago where he had an opportunity to be involved in many different technical projects such as pre-stressed concrete, high strength concrete and even flowing concrete. Material Services programs that involved routine cement testing and the use of fly ash and admixtures to push the available technology to produce “high performance concrete” well before that term became such a key word with the theoretical researchers of today. When notified of this award he wanted to know, “Why me? It really belongs to all my friends and colleagues, not only at Material Service, but throughout the Industry.”
Ralph retired from Material Service in 1991 after 31 years of service and lives with his wife in Palatine, Illinois. They enjoy being close to their three children and four grandchildren.