National Fire Protection Association
The Fire Protection Research Foundation, the research affiliate of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), has appointed two new members to its Board of Trustees. Effective January 1, 2021, Lou Gritzo of FM Global and Peg Paul of Peg Paul Associates will serve three-year terms. The Foundation also announced that Rodger Reiswig from Johnson Controls and Thomas Gell from Brandforsk Sweden will serve a second round of three-year terms on the Board of Trustees.
Dr. Lou Gritzo is currently the vice president and manager of research with FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers. He oversees FM Global’s division of scientists who specialize in fire, explosions, natural hazards (windstorms, floods, earthquakes), equipment, risk and reliability and cyber hazards. Given FM Global’s interest in understanding property hazards and identifying scientifically proven solutions to prevent property and business interruption loss, Gritzo is a strong fit for the Foundation leadership role. Gritzo is also charged with overseeing activities at the world’s largest center for property loss prevention research at FM Global’s Research Campus in West Glocester, Rhode Island, and scientific laboratories in Norwood, Massachusetts. Before joining FM Global in 2006, Gritzo managed fire science and technology at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and was a member of its Advanced Concepts Group think tank. He has served as chair of the Board of Directors of the Innovation Research Interchange (formerly the Industrial Research Institute), chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Heat Transfer Division Executive Committee, and on the Governing Board of the Global Earthquake Model, the ABET Industrial Advisory Committee, the Research Advisory Committee for the Fire Protection Research Foundation, and on advisory committees for several universities. In 2015, he was an invited panelist in two sessions at the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Management in Sendai, Japan. He is also a contributing author to Forbes.com.
Gritzo has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, with a minor in applied mathematics, from Texas Tech University.
Peg Paul is currently the president of Peg Paul & Associates (PPA), a marketing communications agency founded in 2000. The agency specializes in developing and implementing multi-integrated information and education campaigns. The agency supports a wide range of client needs, but PPA has especially established a niche in public safety promotion and has been retained for this purpose by some of the leading national safety advocacy groups, trade associations and industries. Under Paul’s leadership, PPA has developed a broad and vital understanding of safety and expanded its services to include digital media, advertising, public relations, video production, web development, social media, trade shows and fulfillment/database management.
Paul began her career as a copywriter at a Chicago-based advertising agency working with major pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, writing consumer information about various medical and health-related products and issues. Her introduction to fire safety dates back to 1992 when, on behalf of the water heater industry, she developed and implemented multi-million-dollar consumer information and education programs to prevent burn injuries and death caused by flammable vapor ignition and excessively hot tap water.
Paul has been the communications manager for the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition since 1997, where she oversees the development and implementation of educational programs for consumers, members of the fire service, the home building industry, real estate and insurance agents, water purveyors and other targeted groups.
She serves on the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Fire and Life Safety Section, and was an invaluable member of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors Board of Directors for ten years.
PPA work has received various industry accolades including a Parents’ Choice Award, Telly, MarCom, Davey and AVA awards; the American Fire Sprinkler Association recognized Paul as the 2014 Fire Sprinkler Advocate of the Year.
For this release and other announcements about NFPA initiatives, research and more, please visit the NFPA press room.
About the Fire Protection Research Foundation
The Fire Protection Research Foundation plans, manages, and communicates research on a broad range of fire safety issues in support of the NFPA mission. The Foundation is an affiliate of NFPA.
About the National Fire Protection Association® (NFPA®)
Founded in 1896, NFPA® is a global self-funded nonprofit organization devoted to eliminating death, injury, property and economic loss due to fire, electrical and related hazards. The association delivers information and knowledge through more than 300 consensus codes and standards, research, training, education, outreach and advocacy; and by partnering with others who share an interest in furthering the NFPA mission. For more information, visit www.nfpa.org. All NFPA codes and standards can be viewed online for free at www.nfpa.org/freeaccess.
