It is our pleasure to announce that TOM CARLINS has been selected to receive the IES SECTION MERITORIOUS SERVICE AWARD!!!

It was the intent of the Pittsburgh Section Board of Managers to present this award to Tom at the March 18th Meeting, which was unfortunately cancelled. However, the Board was able to ‘virtually’ present Tom with this award. Below is a photo of Tom with the Award and a copy of the heart-felt presentation prepared by Kevin McGahey. CONGRATULATIONS TOM!

Tom Carlins
Tom Carlins

It is my sincere and distinct pleasure to have been selected to present on behalf of the Pittsburgh Section of IES and its Board of Managers to my colleague, my customer, and my friend, Tom Carlins, the IES Section Meritorious Service Award, the highest local Section recognition available from the IES National.

First, a little about the award, then a little about the man. This Section Meritorious Service Award is presented by special application by a Section to an individual member in recognition of outstanding service to the Section, principally of a non-technical nature, that has significantly furthered the purpose of the IES continuously over a (large) number of years in various programs and activities.

The qualifications:

  • 15 or more years of dedicated service to the IES at the Section level.
  • Nominee must be an active member in good standing with no restriction on classification.
  • The nomination must be signed by at least 4 proposers and be approved by the Board of Managers. I am proud to have been one of those proposers.
  • Nomination proceeds to the District Chair who forwards to the Society Office.
  • Award may be presented at any time during the program year at a Section meeting.

Now a little bit about why Tom Carlins is deserving of this honor. Tom is a native of Pittsburgh. He first became a member of IES in 1974, while he was still a student at Penn State. After working in Washington DC and in the Philadelphia area, he came back to Pittsburgh in 1990 for good, where he worked for Loftus and for Astorino, where I first met him when I landed here in the summer of 1993. He was one of the very first people i met after being transferred here by Sylvania. 

Tom has held every official office in the Pittsburgh Section, including serving twice as Section President. He serves now on the Board of Managers, and he is also the IES National Office Lighting Committee Chairman. He has served on that committee for several years. Tom is one of those true believers in good lighting design unless circumstances rip that away from him. In this part of the world, that happens way more often than those of us who really believe in good lighting would like to admit. Tom has earned 6 Section Lighting Awards over the years and is contemplating applying for a 7th this year. It is safe to say that by his longevity as a member, his interest in the IES and the Pittsburgh Section, and his dedication to good lighting in this region, Tom has been the glue that has held this Section together. Literally. When I arrived here in 1993, the Section was about to fold for lack of interest and Tom and Walt Schran found a way to hold it together and accomplish a remarkable turnaround that continues to this very meeting in this very place today.

Since the award was founded in 1980, 201 people around North America have been presented with this award. None from Western PA. Tom will be the first.

And finally, this from Ira Rothman, our IES District Chair, whom many of you will remember from his days here in Pittsburgh at Radiance, and I quote:

‘Tom, on behalf of the IES and District 2, congratulations on receiving this much-deserved IES award. Your dedication to the local Pittsburgh Section, as well as the Society, has helped motivate, encourage, and perpetuate new members to volunteer their time, as you have, to help us move the IES Society forward. Thank you!!’ – Ira Rothman, District 2 Chair and President-Boston and Rhode Island Sections

There is no one more deserving of this award than Tom Carlins.