General Gideon:

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) is writing to congratulate you on your appointment to the NASA Space Shuttle Assessment Safety Review Panel. Such an appointment has significant responsibility, and we hope the end result is positive for NASA, the Space Shuttle Program, and for you personally. Your impressive background in safety, science/technology, and flight brings a unique perspective to the Panel.

We hope that if you are in need of any technical assistance or expertise you will not hesitate to call on the members and staff of the Society. ASSE is the oldest and largest society of Safety Professionals in the world. Founded in 1911, ASSE represents almost 33,000 dedicated safety professionals. Included in this membership are Certified Safety Professionals, Professional Engineers, ergonomists, academicians, fire protection engineers, system safety experts, industrial hygienists, physicians, occupational nurses, and an impressive collection of other disciplines, skills, and backgrounds. We pride ourselves on our dedication to excellence, expertise, and commitment to the protection of people, property, and environment on a world-wide basis.

We are also writing to make you aware of a new program recently launched by ASSE titled: Value Program for Corporations, Institutions, and Organizations. Such a program has much to offer, and we hope that the Air Force Safety Center would consider being a part of the ASSE. If the Safety Center were to join, both your military and civilian personnel would have significant access to world-class technical expertise, professional development training opportunities, and services which would certainly benefit the Air Force and the Department of Defense overall. Several civilians at the Safety Center already belong to ASSE, however, we believe there would be great benefit in your organization being recognized as part of the Society.

We would like to follow-up with you sometime in November to see if the Safety Center has interest in pursuing the Value Program. ASSE has approximately 400 members in New Mexico with a chapter in Albuquerque, and chapters in El Paso and Midland, Texas which service New Mexico members. We also point out that two of our most recent Society Presidents are from New Mexico, (Margaret Carroll, 1994-1995 Sandia National Laboratories, and Fred Fleming, 1998-1999 El Paso Natural Gas Company). If you believe appropriate we could also put you in contact with either Fred or Margaret as they could significant insight into the benefit of belonging to this Society.

We thank you for your attention to this matter, and look forward to working with you in the future. If you should have any questions or issues please do not hesitate to contact the Society.

Regards,

Frank H. Perry, CSP, PE
Society President, 1999-2000