James T. “Tim” Ryan receives the prestigious Bobby J. Fowler Award at the Annual Banquet during the 2012 Annual Conference in Portland, Ore.

James T. “Tim” Ryan, Code Administrator for the city of Overland Park, Kansas, was presented the prestigious Bobby J. Fowler Award during tonight’s Annual Banquet of the International Code Council’s 2012 Annual Conference in Portland.

The Fowler Award honors the memory of the first chairman of the Code Council Board of Directors. The award is given to an individual whose contributions to the building safety and fire prevention industry advance the Council’s goals in achieving a safer and more sustainable built environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the recipient’s focus beyond local or regional concerns to issues and activities that span the globe.

"If you look back at what he accomplished there are really three stages of evolution of how we got where we are today," Ryan said. "The first was the consolidation of the codes. Then came the merger of the organizations, and that made the rest look pretty easy. The third phase of where we're at is bringing together the membership, the individuals and that's been a little bit tougher. But I will use my nomination of this award as an example of where we're at. The people who nominated me came from different code cultures, they came from different regions, and they are even different than the region where I came from."

A 34-year industry veteran, Ryan served on the Code Council Board of Directors from 1999-2009. He was Chairman of ICC’s Emergency Response and Hazard Mitigation Committee (2003-07) and the International Building Code Technical Drafting Committee for Means of Egress and Accessibility (1996-97), and was a member of ICC’s Strategic Planning Committee in 2001. A Certified Building Official, he currently holds 15 professional certifications from the Code Council and is certified in multiple levels of the National Incident Management System. Ryan has served as an ICC Instructor since 2000 in various categories, including disaster response and damage assessment.

“It has been my privilege to know Tim as a friend and colleague,” said Code Council Board of Directors President Bill Dupler. “I know he views what he does for a living as a noble profession, not just a job. He sets the bar high.”

Ryan was recently appointed by President Obama to serve on the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors, becoming the first code official ever appointed by a sitting United States President to a national office. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of the International Association of Building Officials. He first joined the city of Overland Park as an inspector in 1978 and has served as Code Administrator since 1997.