It is with great sadness to report that long-time colleague and friend of International Accreditation Service (IAS), Jim White passed away on November 18, 2009. Jim commanded the respect of all those who came in contact with him for his technical prowess and innovative skills yet he was one of the friendliest and most accommodating persons one would ever hope to meet. Over the years he mentored countless young technicians and engineers in the art and science of fire testing. Through his participation in ASTM committee work he openly shared his knowledge and devoted countless hours to the scientific community. The world is a safer place to live as a result of the contributions of this wonderful, irreplaceable physicist, fire scientist and great friend.

A few of Jim’s professional achievements include: the 2003 ASTM Award of Merit and the title of Fellow, the highest Society recognition for individual contributions to standards activities; International Organization for Standardization Chairman of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to Technical Committee TC92, Subcommittee 4 on Fire Safety Engineering and various officer positions in ASTM including 1st and 2nd Vice Chairman and Chairman of several subcommittees and task groups.

IAS President Chuck Ramani and Vice President/Chief Technical Officer Pat McCullen have a long history with Jim going back to the 1970s during their involvement in fire testing activities—Chuck, when he was with ICBO Evaluation Service and Pat when he was Vice President and Manager of the fire testing laboratory for U.S. Testing Company in Los Angeles. We have many memories of working with Jim when he was Senior Fire Technologist for the Weyerhaeuser Company fire testing laboratory in Longview, Washington, and on ASTM Committee E5 of Fire Standards.

Most recently, Jim was Owner and Senior Scientist of the Western Fire Center in Kelso, Washington, an IAS-accredited testing laboratory specializing in fire testing of products for code compliance; fire litigation; and fire scenario reconstructions, fire modeling and fire test method development. Jim is credited with development of the Intermediate Scale Heat Release Apparatus, a fire test method that generated engineering units for heat and smoke release and other thermo-physical properties that were used to establish the connections between experimental fire tests results and fire calculations and models.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to Jim’s wife Betty, and son Mike and the rest of his family and colleagues at Western Fire Center.

Testing Laboratories | Calibration Laboratories | Inspection Agencies | Special Inspection Agencies
Building Departments | Fabricators | Field Evaluation Bodies | Product Certification Agencies
Training Agencies | Curriculum Development | Metal Building Systems | Building Department Service Providers

Our parent company, the International Code Council
©2010 International Accreditation Service Contact Us