Ernest Grant, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, and current president of the American Nurses Association, has been selected by the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day Planning Committee as the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award. Members of the U.S. standards and conformance community will honor Dr. Grant during the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day on October 28, 2021.
Named for the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Ronald Brown Award recognizes demonstrated leadership in promoting the important role of standardization in eliminating global barriers to trade. The U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day is an annual event that 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.
A leading authority on burn care and prevention, Dr. Grant has devoted his entire career to ensuring the safety of others in his profession as a burn nurse and in his three decades of service with NFPA. He is currently the chair of the NFPA Education Messaging Advisory Committee (EMAC), which is comprised of external experts to establish the fire and life safety messages that are used by educators everywhere.
For nearly 30 years, he was a member of NFPA's Technical Committee (TC) on Public Fire Educator Professional, Public Information Officer, Youth Firesetter Intervention Specialist, and Youth Firesetter Program Manager Professional Qualifications and served as chair for nearly 10 years. He helped spearhead the TC in the development of the standard of the same name, NFPA 1035. The standard identifies the minimum job performance requirements for public fire and life safety educators, public information officers, youth firesetter intervention specialists, and youth firesetter program managers. As such, the standard, utilized extensively across the United States, provides essential guidance for all aspects of fire and life safety education.
Dr. Grant also served on the NFPA Board of Directors from 2006 until 2018 and served as chair from 2014 to 2016. Throughout this period, he brought dynamic leadership, facilitating discussions to ensure the long-term strategy and commitment of NFPA as a leading Standards Developing Organization in fire, life, and electrical safety.
During his tenure as NFPA board chair, NFPA initiated or released 14 standards that address issues including the safety of first responders, emergency service communications, community risk reduction, evacuation, and hazardous material response. The scope of the standards reflect the broad impact of fire, life, and electric safety standards and included the only two provisional standards facilitate by NFPA to address the urgency of safety challenges. The first addressed the cause of a deadly gas explosion in Connecticut that resulted from a cleaning process not addressed in the standards of the time, and the second provides multi-disciplinary guidance on how to prepare, protect and respond to the increasing frequency of active shooter events. The development and execution of this work demonstrates the ability of standards development organizations to move quickly in emergency or critical need scenarios to fill gaps, address new issues, and further safeguard lives and property.
During Dr. Grant's tenure on the NFPA board, the organization advanced efforts to educate key stakeholders about the value of standards and standards development organizations. The work highlighted the importance of copyright protection as a means to continue to facilitate a process that benefits government, business and, ultimately, the public—at no cost.
In addition to his professional commitments, Dr. Grant remains involved with NFPA, chairing the EMAC, and continues to impact safety with his dedication to these issues.
Dr. Grant holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from North Carolina Central University and a Master of Science in Nursing and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2014, he was inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing. He was the first man elected to the office of president of the American Nurses Association, where he serves as 36th president.
About World Standards Day
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.
More information about the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day 2021 is available at www.wsd-us.org.