The Richard D. Gaynor award is presented to an individual that has demonstrated lifetime excellence and commitment on technical initiatives that have benefited the ready mixed concrete industry. It is named for Dick Gaynor who retired as the executive vice president of NRMCA’s Engineering Division. The recipient is selected by the NRMCA Research Engineering and Standards (RES) Committee. This year, it will be presented at the Awards Lunch during the NRMCA Annual Convention in Las Vegas in March.

 

For 2017, the Gaynor award is presented to Thomas H. Adams, executive director of the American Coal Ash Association. Mr. Adams has more than 35 years of experience in the industry and has held leadership roles in the Michigan Concrete Association, American Concrete Institute, American Shotcrete Association and currently at the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA). He has been an active member of the RES Committee since 1980 and is a past chair of the committee. He has served as a member of the NRMCA Board of Directors. Tom joined the ACAA in 2008, just prior to the massive coal ash spill at a power plant in Kingston, TN. He worked closely with various stakeholders to prevent the U.S. EPA from promulgating regulations that would designate fly ash and other coal combustion products as hazardous waste. This would have eliminated the beneficial use of fly ash as an important supplementary cementious material in concrete for better economy and performance. The initiatives were several pronged, from technical, environmental, regulatory, legislative and legal.

 

Mr. Adams attended Wayne State University in Detroit and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.