Named for the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Brown award recognizes demonstrated leadership in promoting the important role of standardization in eliminating global barriers to trade. The award is presented at the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day, an annual event which honors the U.S. standards and conformity assessment community and recognizes its efforts to promote American competitiveness in a global marketplace, safeguard the environment, and improve the quality of life for workers and consumers around the world.
Mr. Sealy was nominated by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), the Administrating Organization of this year's celebration, for his important, long-standing contributions to the development of the nation's building codes and related standards, among other work. He has been active in the codes and standards community since 1972 and worked with all of the model code organizations. He has served on the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Fire Council, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Codes and Standards Advisory Committee, and the AIA committee for accessibility, among many other groups, and is currently the chair of the NIBS Building Seismic Safety Council Board of Direction. Mr. Sealy is a recipient of multiple industry awards, including the Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI) Alton T. Riddick Award; the NIBS Member Award and the Mortimer M. Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award; as well as the International Code Council (ICC) Bobby J. Fowler Award, which is the building code administration profession's highest honor.
Celebrated annually, World Standards Day pays tribute to the thousands of volunteers around the world who participate in standardization activities, and helps to raise awareness of the role that standards play in addressing national and global priorities. The event has been held since 1970 and is recognized in nations around the globe. U.S. activities are organized annually by a planning committee consisting of representatives from across the standards and conformity assessment community. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC)'s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) co-chair the event each year.
More information about the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day 2014 is available at www.wsd-us.org.