ASSP Announces 2019 SPY and Outstanding Safety Educator
Kevin Slates, a clinical associate professor and program coordinator in the School of Public Health at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., is the American Society of Safety Professionals' 2019 William E. Tarrants Outstanding Safety Educator.
The American Society of Safety Professionals announced its 2019 Edgar Monsanto Queeny Safety Professional of the Year is Rama Krushna Chary, senior environment engineer for the drilling and technology directorate at Kuwait Oil Company and a 10-year member of ASSP. Chary's wide-ranging areas of professional responsibility include environmental management systems, environmentally friendly drilling operations, chemical management, air emissions compliance, global sustainability, waste management and recycling, and energy management systems. "He has excellent technical skills involving environmental management systems, environmental assessment studies and management of air quality studies," said ASSP Region 9 Vice President Ashok Garlapati, CSP, CFIOSH, QEP. "He is a self-motivated and highly committed team player with strong conceptual skills."
Chary earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the National Institutes of Technology and has an MBA in oil and gas from the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, both in India.
The society also announced that Kevin Slates, a clinical associate professor and program coordinator in the School of Public Health at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., is its 2019 William E. Tarrants Outstanding Safety Educator. Slates, Ed.D., M.P.A., B.S., CSP, has been a member of ASSP for 14 years. In addition to securing external funding for safety program initiatives, he has been involved in curriculum revision and web-based course development, spearheading the school's online master's in safety management program and is also the founding director of the university's industrial hygiene laboratory.
"His students have often commented on his positive teaching style, willingness to work with them, and his personal care for their benefit," said Dr. Alfred Capuano, a professional colleague at Indiana University. "I consider his teaching and career counseling skills to be among the very best."
Slates has led his students to earn the ASSP Outstanding Student Section of the Year Award in two of the last three years. ASSP's news release said he also has been dedicated to research, publishing scholarly articles and disseminating his work at state and national conferences, has served on numerous grant and editorial review boards, and is the administrator of ASSP's Blacks in Safety Excellence Common Interest Group.
"A few years ago, most of our student internships were local and unpaid," Capuano said. "But under Dr. Slates' leadership, the number of internships tripled, all are paid, and they are available across the United States. He routinely disseminates employment and internship opportunities to students and alumni."
Like Chary, Slates will be honored during the Safety 2019 Professional Development Conference & Exposition that takes place June 9-12 in New Orleans. Slates' award is named after Dr. William E. Tarrants, a pioneer in safety education who was an ASSP Fellow and president (1977-78).