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WASHINGTON, DC— David A. Harris, FAIA announced, on September 27, 2007, his plan to retire, after almost 20 years, as president and chief executive officer of the National Institute of Building Sciences.  At a meeting of the NIBS Board of Directors, Harris agreed to remain in office through a planned national search for his successor, as members gave him a long, standing ovation for his leadership and over 27 years service as a member of NIBS’ staff.

“We’ll have several more occasions to recount Dave’s accomplishments and thank him for what his work here has meant to the public, our industry, and to us personally,” said Board chair James A. Broaddus, PhD, P.E.  “For now that burst of applause says it all. Our search committee will be taking on a big, big job.”

Ronald Skaggs, FAIA, chair of the Institute’s search committee, said, “The committee faces an extremely difficult challenge to find a new NIBS president who can fill Dave’s shoes.  We’re fortunate he will help us through that process.”

Harris thanked the Board for the privilege of serving NIBS and acknowledged the real credit for the Institute’s success belongs to the entire NIBS team.  He cited “the wisdom and contributions of thousands of unselfish volunteers, the leadership provided by talented and supportive board members, a growing array of wonderful client agencies, and especially NIBS’ incredibly talented and dedicated staff.”

Under Harris’ leadership NIBS has grown as both a vigorous nonprofit business and a nationally and internationally respected public-private forum for the building and facilities industry.  Among its best known recent products are the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s HAZUS-MH® and other disaster mitigation products; the growing network of Building Envelope Councils (BECs) designed to optimize regional building performance; and widely used information resources such as the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) and National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities (NCEF).  In 1981 Harris initiated the first use of computers at NIBS, and in 1985 began one of NIBS’ most successful and longest running programs, the Construction Criteria Base (CCB).  Harris was an early advocate of open-standards information technology as a path toward integrating rational automation in the building industry, and has helped make NIBS the home for such initiatives as the buildingSMART Alliance and the National Building Information Model Standard (NBIMS)

Among his many other contributions, Harris chaired the Access Board’s federal advisory committee that developed the first comprehensive revisions to the Americans With Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines, an effort honored with the Hammer Award of the National Performance Review Program.  He is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, an honorary member of the International Code Council (ICC), a founding member of and past chair of the ICC’s Industry Advisory Committee, and a member of the ICC Foundation’s Board of Governors.  Harris is a board member of the ACE Mentor Program and a past board member the ACE Mentor Affiliate of Greater Washington, DC.  An architecture graduate of Kent State University, he served as a commissioned officer in the Navy Civil Engineers Corps, and practiced architecture before joining NIBS in 1980.