President's Memo
March 2001
Thank You for a Wonderful Year
by James O. Jirsa
It seems almost impossible that this is my last President’s Memo. It has been a great honor for Marion and me to represent all of you during the past year. We have enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many ACI members and friends in the concrete community during this very short year. As I complete my term of service, I would like to highlight some of the activities that were the focus of my year as President.
Over the past three years there has been intense discussion regarding our international activities and strategies—members and programs; cooperative and collaborative work with other concrete-related groups; and codes and standards issues. At the October 2000 Convention in Toronto, the Board approved the formation of a new International Committee that will be assigned responsibility for many of these issues. This committee, which will hold its first meeting at this month’s convention in Philadelphia, will plan and implement new international programs and activities and oversee existing ones.
The direction of our international efforts was greatly influenced by discussions we had with ACI chapter leaders in Central and South America (Argentina, Chile, Peru, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico), as well as with members and officers of IBRACON (Instituto Brasileiro do Concreto), FIB (Fédération Internationale du Béton), and JCI (Japan Concrete Institute).
It was gratifying to see ACI’s Building Code (ACI 318), standards, reports, and certification programs being used extensively in Central and South America. Our members and friends in these regions have significant needs for additional ACI programs, and, in turn, ACI needs their expertise to improve our documents.
The principal asset of ACI is its enormous store of knowledge, which has been amassed over nearly 100 years. The challenge our Institute faces is to take advantage of the opportunities offered by rapidly expanding information technologies to effectively deliver this knowledge to our members and users. New ways must be found to serve those who need the knowledge we have developed. The updated Strategic Plan (CI, January 2001) that was drafted by our Board reflects this priority. The timeliness and usefulness of the knowledge we deliver is as important as its technical quality, and ACI needs to apply the tools of marketing to help direct our knowledge, in the appropriate form, to where it will be most useful.
In December 2000, a planning session held and organized by ConREF—ACI’s Concrete Research and Education Foundation—resulted in a plan of action that will have long-term impact on ACI. A new mission statement was drafted for ConREF and provides an indication of the activities envisioned: "ConREF will advance the concrete industry through planning and attracting human and financial resources to support research and scholarship in concrete design, materials, and construction and facilitate timely applications of technology into practice." The development of new knowledge and the development of people who are prepared to participate in and advance concrete technology are perhaps the most important activities we can undertake to assure that concrete technology does not stagnate.
ACI will face new and different challenges in the years ahead but, with your support, the Institute will continue to be a leader among technical associations and an unparalleled source of "concrete" knowledge. I know of no other organization that has such a devoted group of volunteers who can always be called upon to give unselfishly of their time and effort to improving concrete technology and the world that depends upon it.
I am indeed proud to have served as President and would like to express my appreciation to all of you for according me this honor. My admiration has grown immeasurably for the volunteers who serve the Institute, the dedication of our hard-working Headquarters staff under the leadership of Jim Toscas, and for the sustained support of so many in the concrete community through their membership in ACI.
Thank you for making this year so rewarding and unforgettable. My best wishes to incoming President Dan Baker—I know that one year from now he will be wondering how 12 months could go by so quickly!
James O. Jirsa
President
American Concrete Institute
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