U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day

Save the Date: Thursday, October 12, 2023

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004

Event Overview

The U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day (WSD) is an annual event recognizing the importance of various stakeholder groups across the standards community, including business leaders, industry, academia, and government. The event features a yearly theme relevant to the broader community and its priorities, and includes presentation of the Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award.

ASTM International serves as the 2023 administrating organization of the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day. Event details and registration will be posted here when available.

The U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day is a widely attended event that is co-sponsored and attended by federal government agencies to recognize and honor the many contributions of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment community.

WSD 2022 Theme: Sustaining the U.S. Standards Model and American Standards Leadership

The 2022 U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day took place on Thursday, October 13, as an in-person event in Washington, DC. The International Code Council (ICC) served as the 2022 administrating organization.

For more than a century, voluntary codes and standards created by non-profit standard development organizations have protected public health, safety, and security, constituted a backbone of commerce, provided the building blocks for innovation, and served as the basis for quality and interoperability. This is the result of one of the most successful public-private partnerships in history. America’s leadership is driven by non-governmental SDOs, harnessing private sector speed and flexibility to enable consensus-based and market driven standards that keep pace with technology, foster economic growth, and save government partners and taxpayers billions. The U.S.’s unique SDO partnership must be both supported and protected, and SDO’s time and investments valued. The World Standards Day 2022 theme – Sustaining the U.S. Standards Model and American Standards Leadership – draws attention to and supports this public-private partnership which has ensured America’s continued standards development leadership on the global stage.

U.S. WSD Planning Committee

World Standards Day was initially launched in 1970, and is now recognized and celebrated by nations around the globe. U.S. activities are organized annually by a planning committee consisting of representatives from the standards and conformity assessment community, and co-chaired by ANSI and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Participation in the U.S. World Standards Day Planning Committee is open to all. If your organization is interested in joining the WSD Committee and being part of the annual U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day, please reach out to Stephanie Carroll (scarroll@ansi.org; 212-642-4890). The WSD Committee meets monthly.

View the WSD Committee roster

WSD Paper Competition

In celebration of standards and their growing impact on the global economy, SES - The Society for Standards Professionals and the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day Planning Committee co-sponsor the annual WSD paper competition for individuals in the U.S. standards community. Paper competition winners are selected by the SES Publications Committee and announced at the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day.

Ronald Brown Standards Leadership Award

The Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award, named after the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce, recognizes demonstrated leadership in promoting the important role of standardization in eliminating global barriers to trade. This special award is presented during the U.S. World Standards Day celebration.

Guidelines for Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award

Demonstrates leadership in promoting the role of international standards to eliminate global barriers to trade and in promoting U.S. standards as a tool to enhance U.S. global competitiveness.
Demonstrates a clear commitment to and authorizes resources within the organization, agency, or corporation for the development of national and international standards.
Exhibits leadership and visionary qualities in support of national and international standardization as evidenced by speeches in national fora and articles in national publications
Creates an atmosphere in the company that encourages the development of anticipatory standards in support of emerging technologies and in pursuit of a company’s business strategies.
Demonstrates support of the principle of global supplier declaration of conformance of products and services to international standards.
Individual should have a clear understanding of the standards development process preferably by having served on a standards making committee.
Encourages staff participation in external standards committees.
Organization supports U.S, standards system.
Has demonstrated through service, a commitment to the voluntary standards community of the United States.
Guidelines developed by World Standards Day Planning Committee, June 1995

Past Recipients of the Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award

2022 Ed Laatsch
Director, Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Planning, Safety, and Building Science Division

2020-2021* Ernest Grant, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
American Nurses Association

2019 Austin Freeman, Ph.D.
Segment Engineering Technical Authority, BP

2018 Arthur E. Cote
Former Executive Vice President and Chief Engineer (retired)
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

2017 Charles Sidebottom, P.E.
Managing Partner, PPO Standards LLC

2016 James A. Thomas
President, ASTM International

2015 James Williamson
Former Vice President of Technical Standards at Sony Electronics

2014 Jimmy W. Sealy
Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA)

2013 Catherine (Kitty) H. Pilarz
Senior Director of Product Safety for Mattel/Fisher-Price

2012 Ronald L. Lynn
Director and Building Official, Clark County (Nevada) Department of Development Services

2011 James Shannon
President, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)

2010 Marsha Mazz
Senior Accessibility Specialist and Technical Assistance Coordinator, United States Access Board

2009 Jim Sanford
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Market Access and Industrial Competitiveness

2008 James H. Turner, Jr.
Chief Counsel, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives

2007 Dr. James E. Hill
Former president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air- Conditioning Engineers, Inc.

2006 Constance A. Morella
U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives

2005 Richard E. Feigel
President, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)

2004 Simon Pugh
Vice President, Infrastructure and Standards, MasterCard International

2003 Jack Dangermond
President, Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)

2002 William M. Daley
President, SBC Communications Inc.

2001 Robert W. Lane
President & CEO, Deere & Company

2000 J. W. Marriott, Jr.
CEO, Marriott International, Inc.

1999 Robert L. Mallett
Deputy Secretary of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce

1998 Dana G. Mead
Chairman & CEO, Tenneco

1997 Philip M. Condit
Chairman & CEO, The Boeing Company

1996 Richard C. Notebaert
Chairman of the Board & CEO, Ameritech

1995 William J. Hudson
President & CEO, AMP, Incorporated

1994 Gary L. Tooker
Vice Chairman & CEO, Motorola Inc.

1993 I. Mac Allister Booth
Chairman & CEO, Polaroid Corporation

*Presented in May 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Staff Contact

Stephanie Carroll

Senior Manager, Meetings and Events

Phone:
212.642.4890

Email:
scarroll@ansi.org