ASTM International Announces 5 Women Nominees to Board, New Women in Standards Video, More

Yesterday, global standards organization ASTM International announced its slate of six new board of directors nominees for 2020, five of whom are women. In addition, the organization’s president, Katharine Morgan, unveiled a new “Women in Standards” video highlighting the growing role of women in developing technical standards.
The board nominees are experts representing perspectives of industry, governments, consumers, and more. They include:
•    Francine Bovard, a senior technical specialist with Arconic, a company which engineers and manufactures lightweight metals;
•    Bonnie McWade-Furtado, an associate research and development scientist at Cabot Corp., a specialty chemical and performance materials company;
•    Carol Pollack-Nelson, Ph.D., owner of Independent Safety Consulting LLC, which specializes in consumer product safety;
•    Casandra W. Robinson, a physical scientist at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); and,
•    Dalia Yarom, director of the standardization division at the Standards Institution of Israel (SII).
Michael J. Brisson, a technical advisor at the Savannah River National Laboratory, was also nominated.
“I am thrilled that for the first time in ASTM International’s history, a majority of our incoming board members will likely be women,” said Morgan. “We want to make sure women’s voices are both represented and heard at every table. I am confident that the women nominated will serve as role models for even more women to follow in their footsteps.”
In addition, current board member Vicky J. Taylor, senior research technologist at INVISTA (Canada) Co., is nominated to serve as the board’s vice chair.
During an event with the Philadelphia Chapter of the Society of Women’s Environmental Professionals – a group based near ASTM International’s global headquarters – Morgan debuted a new video featuring four women who are active in various technical committees. It can be seen here: https://www.astm.org/video/women-in-standards.
Nazli Yessiller, Ph.D., director of the Global Waste Research Institute at California Polytechnic State University has accepted the role as editor for ASTM International’s prestigious Geotechnical Testing Journal, becoming the first woman editor in the journal’s 41-year history. Yessiller’s term will begin in 2021.
More immediately, on Sept. 16, Teresa Cendrowska, ASTM International’s vice president of global cooperation, will take part in the first meeting of the signatories of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Declaration on Gender Responsive Standards and Standards Development in Cape Town, South Africa.