Posts tagged: new appointment

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) has named Jimmy Jönsson, FSFPE, its 2023 President, and Bob Libby, PE, FSFPE, its President-Elect.   

Jimmy Jönsson, FSFPE, is Director of JVVA Fire & Risk in Madrid, Spain. Jönsson has been an SFPE member for 20 years, has served as the first president of the SFPE Spain Chapter, was the first elected president of the group that became SFPE Europe, and currently serves as editor of the SFPE EUROPE magazine and as an officer on the SFPE Board of Directors. 

He holds a BSc in Fire Protection Engineering and an MSc in Risk Management & Safety Engineering – both from Lund University in Sweden. Jönsson is currently serving as the Program Committee Chair of both the SFPE European Conference & Expo on Fire Safety Engineering scheduled for March 2023 in Berlin, Germany, and the SFPE Annual Conference & Expo scheduled for October 2023 in Washington D.C./Bethesda, MD, USA.   

Bob Libby, PE, FSFPE, was elected President-Elect. Libby is Senior Vice President and Principal of Fire Protection Engineering at Coffman Engineers, where he has extensive experience in the specification, bid, award, installation, management, testing, and acceptance of fire protection systems in commercial buildings. He has been an SFPE member for 40 years and active in several SFPE chapters over those years.

Amanda Kimball, PE, FSFPE, has been re-elected to another year as Secretary-Treasurer, and Shaun Kelly, PEng, CEng, MIEI, PMSFPE, has been re-elected to another term on the SFPE Board of Directors. John Frank, PE, FSFPE, and Fang Li, PE, FSFPE, have been elected to join the SFPE Board of Directors. Each will begin their term on January 1, 2023. 

Nicole Boston, CAE, Chief Executive Officer, Society of Fire Protection Engineers commented: “As SFPE continues to expand efforts to reach engineers across the globe, our membership has elected exceptional leaders to build off our strong programs and best position the Society for continued growth and impact. 

“SFPE’s 2023 elected leaders have the depth, diverse experience, and dedication needed to advance the Society, our strategic direction, and the profession of fire protection and fire safety engineering.” 

Nicole Boston, CAE, Christopher Butts, PE, AET, SET, CFPS, ARM, PMSFPE, Elizabeth Pennacchio, PE, PMSFPE, Shamim Rashid-Sumar, PE, FSFPE, Albert Simeoni, PhD, PMSFPE, Beth Tubbs, PE, FSFPE, and Michael Wojcik, PE, PMSFPE, continue their service on the Society’s Board of Directors. SFPE will be soliciting nominations for the 2024 leadership roles in the coming months.   

The Supervisory Board of Rosenbauer International AG, has appointed Markus Richter, 60, as new Chief Financial Officer. Richter succeeds Sebastian Wolf in this function, who moved to the top of the Group as the new CEO in August and continued to manage the Finance Division on an interim basis.

Richter will join Rosenbauer’s Executive Board on December 1, 2022.

Markus Richter graduated in business administration from the University of Cologne. His professional career initially took him to the German industry, where he held various management positions.

In 2000, he moved to Austria as Head of Finance at RHI AG; further positions followed at Verbund, ÖBB Holding, Trenkwalder and Asamer. His most recent appointment was as commercial manager and Chief Financial Officer for the Upper Austrian Engel Holding and Engel Austria GmbH.

Christian Reisinger, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Rosenbauer International AG commented: “We are delighted that in Markus Richter we have been able to win over a proven financial expert with international experience from industrial, service and engineering companies for Rosenbauer. I am confident that with his comprehensive knowledge, he will make a major contribution to managing the currently very challenging market environment and successfully implementing our long-term Group strategy.”

Telgian CEO James Tomes has announced the appointment of Chris Higgins as President, Telgian Fire Safety (TFS). In this position, Higgins will maintain strategic and operational responsibility for all TFS business operations.

Higgins brings over 30 years of successful experience leading high-impact, operational initiatives to the company. He is skilled in the development and implementation of operations strategy, continuous improvement, and performance metrics.

Higgins also specialises in team building of geographically dispersed teams, leadership development, and maximising the use of employee engagement strategies. His initiatives result in high performance teams, a strong organizational culture and exceptional customer service, driving customer satisfaction and employee standards of excellence to new levels.

A US Navy veteran, he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with Navy accredited courses from Texas Tech University. In addition to his position at Telgian Fire Safety, he is also a lifetime member of AMVETS Post IL 14.

Tomes said: “Chris is a strategic, results-oriented business leader with an impressive track record,. After joining the company in 2021 as Vice President of Customer Service, Chris quickly proved his business acumen and his innovative programs have made him a valuable leader. Additionally, his proven commitment to excellence dovetails with Telgian Fire Safety’s dedication to providing an exceptional customer experience.”  

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service have appointed Dan Quin as their new permanent Chief Fire Officer. Quin has been acting Chief Fire Officer since June 2022, prior to that he was the county’s Deputy Chief Fire Officer since October 2019.

He has served his whole career within Surrey Fire and Rescue Service since joining over 23 years ago in 1999 as a firefighter at Leatherhead Fire Station and takes on the role following a robust interview process.

Quin is also the Vice-Chair of the United Kingdom Rescue Organisation who are the industry leads in advancing professional rescue skills nationally.

Speaking of his new appointment, Dan said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been appointed as Surrey’s permanent Chief Fire Officer and very much looking forward to building on the plans I put in place during the last few months as Acting Chief.

“As someone who has been in the service for the whole of my career, I am aware of the many strengths as well as the areas we need to improve upon. I am dedicated to making Surrey one of the best fire and rescue services in the industry and I know we have the people to help see that through.”

Council Leader Tim Oliver said: “I’m pleased to welcome Dan as Chief Fire Officer. After a very positive spell leading Surrey Fire and Rescue Service on an interim basis, Dan was clearly a very strong candidate for the job. I’m confident he will be a great leader of the service – knowledgeable, experienced and approachable to staff and partners across Surrey. He will continue on the improvement journey that is well underway and I’m confident SFRS is in good hands to continue its journey to being an excellent service.”

Cabinet Member for Communities and Community Protection, Denise Turner-Stewart said: “Having worked with Dan before and very recently too, I am very pleased to hear that he has been made our Chief Fire Officer and am looking forward to continuing to work closely alongside him. Dan brings a wealth of experience from serving the residents of Surrey for over 20 years already and it gives me great confidence that Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and the safety of residents are in good hands.”