The Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) has announced the appointment of Brian Liebel as Technical Director of Standards, effective Feb. 16, 2016. Licitra succeeds Rita Harrold who retired in June 2015.
According to the IES press release Liebel’s primary responsibilities will be “…overseeing the development and production of IES Standards, [and] he will also play a key role in developing plans and implementing programs to meet the objectives of the 2014 – 2020 IES Strategic Plan specific to Educational, Consensus, Research and Advocacy objectives.”
Liebel is a graduate of the University of Kansas, School of Architectural Engineering. He joined the IES as a student and was part of the first class of Besal Scholarship recipients in 1984. Over the course of his 30-year career, Liebel has served the IES as an educator, committee chair, and for the past two-and-a-half years, as a member of the Board of Directors. Throughout his professional career Liebel “… has always emphasized his belief in melding the art and science of lighting design and illuminating engineering; he has received awards for both innovative design and technical achievement, been a recognized advocate for quality lighting in energy codes, and provided design guidance in lighting research. He received the Presidential Award at this year’s Annual Conference for overseeing the IES Business Review that was conducted in 2015.”
“Brian’s wealth of experience and industry knowledge makes him a key addition to the IES family,” said Tim Licitra, IES Executive Vice President in a prepared statement. “We view his appointment as a sign of our commitment to maintaining our position as leaders and an authoritative body in our industry. IES is very fortunate that we were able to find someone of Brian’s caliber to fulfill this role. I’m confident that Brian will play a key role in providing and implementing high quality programs and solutions that will allow us to improve the value of membership and execute on our strategic plan.”
IES President Mark Roush echoed this sentiment: “We are very excited to see Brian assume this role. He has proven his professionalism and thoroughness time and again as a valued Board Member, has performed exemplary both as a volunteer task leader and hired consultant, and impressed the executive search committee with the preparedness and vision that is sure to help lead IES into a new era of standards, publications, and program development. With two new key staff positions now filled I am confident that both Tim and Brian will make a leadership team that forms the foundation of modernization needed in our headquarters operation.”
The search effort for a new technical director was conducted by a five–member committee that was appointed by the IES Board. The IES was assisted in its recruitment process by Washington, D.C.–based executive search firm Sterling Martin Associates. Liebel’s current Board Member position will be filled according to the process outlined within the IES Bylaws.
“This is an exciting and pivotal time in our industry, with rapid advances in lighting technologies and our understanding of how light affects vision and health,” Liebel said in a press statement. “It’s particularly important that we reflect and assess our strength of membership knowledge, while we modernize our methods for delivering that same knowledge to a younger and broader audience. It’s also more important than ever to engage with university programs, advocate for improved lighting education through all industry sectors, and to participate with other organizations and government agencies to communicate the importance of quality lighting.”
