The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute has elected Keith Wallis Jr. as its 2019 Chairman. Wallis is general manager of Prestressed Casting Co. in Springfield, Mo.
 
“As PCI chairman, I hope to open our membership up to the opportunities to get better value out of membership through a theme this year of your PCI,” Wallis said. “I also want to help represent those who work in the sweat side of our business, those who manufacture and erect precast concrete components every day.”
 
“For more than two decades, Keith has been one of the most involved precast producer members at PCI. He’s chaired various committees and sat on the Board of Directors twice as chair of PCI’s Quality Activities Council, which oversees our important certification programs,” said PCI President and CEO Bob Risser, P.E. “This level of involvement, combined with his hands-on approach at Prestressed Casting, means Keith brings an almost unique perspective to PCI as our new chairman. I look forward to working with him and the rest of our board as we implement PCI’s ambitious strategic plan.”
 
Two other officers were elected for terms in 2019. John Seroky, of High Concrete Group, was elected vice chairman, and Dennis Fink, of Northeast Prestressed Products, was elected secretary-treasurer.

PCI members also elected the following as new members of their board of directors: Matt Ballain, Coreslab Structures; Jenny Frost, Wells Concrete; Harry Gleich, Metromont Corp., Matt Graf, International Concrete Products; Chris Mosley, The Consulting Engineers Group; Bob Pabst, High Concrete Group; Jay Stracener, Precast Erectors; and Randy Wilson, Meridian Brick.

All officers and board members started their 2019 terms at the PCI Convention, held in Louisville, Ky., Feb. 26-March 2, 2019.

During the PCI Convention Annual Membership Meeting and Luncheon, several individuals were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the precast, prestressed concrete industry, including:
 
Ned Cleland - Ned Cleland received the PCI Medal of Honor. Cleland has been involved with PCI since 1984 and is a noted expert on earthquake design of precast, prestressed concrete structures. He was named a PCI fellow in 2001 and Titan of the Industry in 2014.

Tom Kelley - Tom Kelley received the Mario J. Bertolini Leadership and Innovation Award. Kelley, president, chairman, and CEO of Gage Brothers, has demonstrated exceptionally high degrees of professional ethics, service, and dedication to the precast concrete industry and to PCI for more than 30 years.

Suzanne Aultman, Amir Fam, Lee Lawrence, Clay Naito, and Art Shultz: Aultman, Fam, Lawrence, Naito, and Shultz were all honored as 2019 PCI Fellows.  Aultman is technical manager for Metromont Corp. in Greenville, S.C. Fam is associate dean in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and the Donald and Sarah Munro Chair Professor in Engineering and Applied Science in the Department of Civil Engineering of Queen’s University (Kingston) Canada. Lawrence is the director of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates’ South Region and Practice Development Function in Austin, Texas. Naito is a professor at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa. Schultz is a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.