Headlines News
SFPE Foundation appoints four new members to board of governors

June 22, 2023, Gaithersburg, Md. – The SFPE Foundation, a charitable organization focused on enhancing the scientific understanding of fire and its interaction with the social, natural, and built environments, has announced the appointment of four new members to its board of governors.

The new governors were appointed in May, and include:

• Sean Donohue, vice president, Fire & Life Safety, West, WSP USA;
• Ann Jeffers, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan;
• Steve Kerber, vice president and executive director for the Fire Safety Research Institute and the UL Research Institutes; and
• Chris LaFleur, manager of risk and reliability analysis for Sandia National Laboratories.

“From funding research on the environmental and health impact of large-scale fire events, to studying opportunities for better integration of fire protection systems in building information modelling, to expanding resources on fire risk mitigation in the wildland urban interface, to understanding the impact of water supply and climate change on fire protection systems, and so much more, the SFPE Foundation continues to enhance the scientific understanding of fire,” said Leslie Marshall, director for the SFPE Foundation. “With the leadership of experts like Sean, Ann, Steve, and Chris – along with the support of generous donors and partners – the SFPE Foundation is expanding our impact and working to achieve our mission of engineering a resilient, sustainable, fire-safe world for all.”

The SFPE Foundation also acknowledges the contributions of outgoing governors Kathleen Almand, Justin Biller, and Bryan Klein.