IBHS Mourns the Passing of Former President and CEO Harvey Ryland
Tampa, FL (PRWEB) July 10, 2013 -- Harvey Ryland, former president and CEO of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) passed away in Tampa on July 7, following a brief battle with cancer. He had a 30-year career in emergency management, dedicating his professional life to reducing losses from disasters and other public safety threats. Ryland retired in 2007, after 12 years at the helm of IBHS, which is an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported by the property insurance industry.
“Harvey was a genuinely warm person with a passion for improving our nation’s emergency and disaster preparedness and response systems,” said Julie Rochman, president and CEO of IBHS. “During his tenure at IBHS, he created a variety of partnerships to educate home and business owners about effective loss mitigation techniques. His legacy can be seen in communities across the country where those messages were taken to heart, so that citizens are better prepared to deal with the worst Mother Nature throws at them.”
Prior to joining IBHS, Ryland was deputy director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during President Clinton's administration. He worked closely with then FEMA Director James Lee Witt to develop a new strategy for emergency management in the United States that emphasizes loss reduction through mitigation.
Ryland also served as executive director of the Central United States Earthquake Consortium, and founded a company specializing in innovative solutions for operational and management problems, primarily for federal and local government. He worked on the Panama Canal Treaty, and was project engineer in the development of the Incident Command System, which set the international standard for inter-agency operational cooperation during emergencies.
In addition to his professional work, Ryland was a Senior Research Fellow at the Risk Management & Decision Processes Center, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and an invited member of the "Good Judgment Project" sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency to identify procedures for making correct decisions concerning future events. He was an active member of Hyde Park United Methodist Church, where he developed a program to recycle used laptop computers for education and training in South Africa.
A memorial service will be held in Tampa on Saturday, July 13.
About The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS)
IBHS is an independent, nonprofit, scientific research and communications organization supported by the property insurance industry. The organization works to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other risks on residential and commercial property by conducting building science research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparedness practices.
Kenya Woodard, Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety, (813) 675-1053, [email protected]
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