Celebrating Membership Milestones

July 2012

NAFA thanks all of the members celebrating their anniversaries this month for their years with the Association. It is the strength of the membership that has helped make NAFA the fleet industry's strongest association.

45 years

James Frank 
President
Wheels, Inc.
Des Plaines, IL

James S. Frank has been Chief Executive Officer and President of Wheels Inc. since 1974. Frank joined Wheels in 1967. He serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Frank Consolidated Enterprises (Wheels Inc.'s Parent Company). He served as both President and Chairperson of the American Automobile Leasing Association (AALA). He was responsible for designing and implementing the first IT systems which were used to collect a wide range of information and deliver that data to fleet managers in a way that helped them better manage their fleets.

Frank serves as Director of American Automobile Leasing Association and University of Chicago; as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago Hospitals; and a member of the Board of Overseers of the Thayer Engineering School at Dartmouth College. He holds B.A. from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford Business School.

Patrick J. Sheehan 
Director of Corporate Fleet
Baxter Healthcare (retired)
Barrington, IL

Patrick J. Sheehan was NAFA President from 1983 to 1985. He is credited, during his tenure as NAFA President, for surpassing the total membership mark of 2,500 for the Association, a high-point for NAFA at that time.

Sheehan was also instrumental in the development of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Certified Fleet Manager Program, a precursor to what would ultimately become NAFA's CAFM program. He was recipient of NAFA's Distinguished Service Award in 1988.

Recalling his introduction to NAFA, Sheehan noted both he and the Association were in their formative periods. "Shortly after I joined Baxter Healthcare in 1967, the CEO suggested I might be interested in a fairly new organization for fleet administrators called NAFA. I decided he was right and became a member," Sheehan recalled. "Can you believe, back then, power options was the big issue?"

Through a steady, and relatively quick window of time, Sheehan became invaluable to NAFA as it grew. "1971 was a busy year. I became Chapter Chair in Chicago, and was asked to be NAFA Conference Chair that same year. In 1974, I became a trustee, moved along into the chairs and eventually became President in 1983; then on to the Board of Governors."

Prior to his years in fleet, Sheehan served as a ground accident investigator during the Korean War. It can be easily assumed that such an experience would lend itself to Sheehan's warm feelings toward NAFA's sense of camaraderie, working alongside peers who all shared the same ambitions and goals. "I am honored to have served with, and learned from, these most competent men, who were considered more than business associates, but friends."

25 Years

Walter J. Burnett, CAFM
Macomb, IL

Walter J. Burnett, CAFM, served the public works profession for over thirty-eight years. He has worked for the Cities of Knoxville, TN; Schaumburg, IL; Beverly Hills, CA, and retired as Public Works Director of the City of Macomb, IL, where he managed a full service public works operation, water and wastewater utility, and capital improvement program.
 
Burnett has been active in professional associations, has served on the Board of Trustees as Trustee, Secretary, Treasurer, and Vice President for NAFA; Illinois Public Works Mutual Aid Network, where he served as a Founding Director, the American Public Works Association, and is a past President of the Automotive Transportation Supervisors Association. His public works construction projects have received APWA Illinois Projects of the Year Awards three times. He was a 2006 finalist for Government Fleet Magazine’s Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year Award and in 2007 received NAFA’s Excellence in Education Award. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee and is a Certified Automotive Fleet Manager. He currently works as a Project Consultant for the Jones Corporation.

Warren T. Dudek 
Fleet and Travel Manager
inVentiv Health
Somerset, NJ

Russell R. Evans 
Vice President
Hertrich Fleet Services, Inc.
Milford, DE

Russell R. Evans served in the U.S. Coast Guard 1960-1964. From there he worked at Household Finance Corporation 1964-1973, completed their Management Training Program, was promoted to Branch Manager, and then to New Business Representative. From there Evans moved to Colonial Chevrolet, Wilmington, DE 1973-1989 (as F & I Manager; New Car Manager; Used Car Manager; Truck Center Manager; Fleet Sales Manager; and General Sales Manager). He was with Winner Automotive Group, Wilmington, DE 1989-1998 as Director of Fleet Sales. He has been with the Hertrich Family of Automobile Dealerships, Seaford, from 1998 to the present as Vice President of Hertrich Fleet Services, Milford.

Evans has been awarded five times by Ford Motor Company as a Top 25 Government Sales Dealer.

L. A. Farmer 
President
Farmbro Inc.
Mississauga, ON

Ronald E. Mawaka 
CEO, Chairman
Fleet Response
Cleveland, OH

John B. O'Hare 
Equipment Manager
Protection Services Inc.
Harrisburg, PA

David G. Robertson, CAFM
Spring, TX

Douglas Weichman, CAFM
Director
Palm Beach County
Fleet Management
West Palm Beach, FL

Douglas Weichman, CAFM, currently serves as President of NAFA Fleet Management Association. Douglas has been an active Member of NAFA since 1987 and has been involved within NAFA’s educational programs, the Public Safety Group, the Fuels & Technology Committee, and the Student Advisory Task Force. His NAFA career is highlighted by the creation of NAFA Sustainable Fleet Award (formerly known as the Green Fleet Award) and the Student Advisory Task Force. His work as an instructor for NAFA’s Fleet Management Seminar and the development of several educational products has been instrumental for the Association.

Doug has been the Director Fleet Management for Palm Beach County, Florida since 1990. Before that he was the Fleet Manager for Miami-Dade County for nine years and has held private sector fleet positions upon graduating from Ferris State University with a Bachelor of Science in Automotive & Heavy Equipment Technology. 

In addition to NAFA, Weichman is also an active member of the Florida Association of Governmental Fleet Administrators. Among his career highlights are his appointment by the Governor of Florida to the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities initiative and his selection in 2009 as Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year.

For more membership milestones, visit: www.nafa.org/milestones