ASHRAEinstalled new officers and directors at its 2004 Annual Meeting held in Nashville, TN, June 26-30. The new ASHRAE president is Ron Vallort, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, president of Ron Vallort and Associates Ltd., Oak Brook, IL. As ASHRAE's president, Vallort directs the Society's Board of Directors and oversees the Executive Committee.

During his term, Vallort is emphasizing the widespread benefits of refrigeration as the technology for survival and ASHRAE as the strongest link in the cold chain. Vallort said, "We need to advance the technology of refrigeration to enable all the people of the world to enjoy its benefits. And this refrigeration should be more economical and foolproof to construct and operate, while still being friendly to the earth."

Also during the year, ASHRAE will celebrate the centennial anniversary of the founding of The American Society of Refrigerating Engineers, a predecessor society. Other officers installed for a one-year term are:

  • President-Elect: Lee W. Burgett, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, an engineering consultant to Trane, a business of American Standard Companies, and others following his retirement last year from Trane as vice president-new ventures. He resides in La Crosse, WI.
  • Treasurer: Terry Townsend, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, president, Townsend Engineering Inc., Chattanooga, TN, and Panama City, FL.
  • Vice President: Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng., director, the Department of Physical Plant, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
  • Vice President: William A. Harrison, district president, Trane Commercial Systems, Little Rock, AR.
  • Vice President: Gordon V. R. Holness, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, chairman emeritus, Albert Kahn Associates Inc. Architects and Engineers, Detroit.
  • Vice President: Ronald E. Jarnagin, staff scientist/program manager, Battelle's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA.

ASHRAE installed the following directors to serve a three-year term from 2004-2007:

  • Region IV Director and Regional Chair: Ben A. Leppard Jr., P.E., principal, Leppard Johnson and Associates, Tucker, GA.
  • Region V Director and Regional Chair: James Willson, P.E., solution development leader, Honeywell International, Indianapolis.
  • Region VI Director and Regional Chair: Mark Hegberg, hydronic systems instructor, ITT Bell and Gossett, Morton Grove, IL.
  • Region XII Director and Regional Chair: Robert Risley, sales manager, FPL Services, Fort Myers, FL.
  • Region XIII Director and Regional Chair: Chee S. Ow, Ph.D., P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, professor, mechanical engineering faculty at Mara University of Technology in Selangor, Malaysia.
  • Director-at-Large: Nance Lovvorn, owner, Lovvorn Consulting Services, Birmingham, AL. He retired from Alabama Power Co. in 2001 after 35 years of service.
  • Director-at-Large: David Underwood, P.Eng., president, Isotherm Engineering, Mississauga, ON, Canada.
  • Director-at-Large: Thomas Watson, P.E., chief engineer, chiller products, McQuay International, Staunton, VA.