Standardization News

My New Year editorials are usually about beginnings but, for me, this issue marks the end of a long chapter. I’m both happy and sad to tell you I am retiring at the end of January.  As I write my last message, highlights of 20 years as editor in chief come to mind: The fascinating subjects and amazing organizational growth we’ve chronicled, new magazine formats and designs, and so much more.

But when I think about what to say in my last chance to write to you, I realize that I just want to express gratitude.

I am grateful for our members. So many of you give of your time to write or serve as a resource for hundreds of articles in this magazine. SN is primarily a member benefit, but it isn’t just for you. It is about you and, in many ways, by you.

In meeting you and reporting on your work, I have seen firsthand how hard — and rewarding — it can be to work out high-stakes differences with colleagues and competitors in order to write standards that serve critical needs. Amazingly, many of you do this while making lifelong friendships with each other. To me, that is the secret ingredient in ASTM International’s unique place among professional associations. The way you work — with collegiality, fairness, and in a spirit of friendship — has taught me values and skills I’ll never forget.

I couldn’t be more grateful than I am for my co-workers, past and present. You embody the same values as our members, and I am a better person for having worked with every one of you. To the graphics team, Mike Wells and Annabelle Aispuro: I am so proud of the visual polish and vitality you bring to this magazine. To the communications team — Nate Osburn, Dan Bergels, Chris Davis, and Rich Wilhelm: I will desperately miss both the laughter and the shared drive to excel that has marked our time together. And to my associate editor (and auxiliary brain), Cicely Enright: You have been a trusted and kind companion in this work we do, and this magazine would literally be half of what it is without you, in quality and content. Thank you.

I have been blessed with a front-row seat at an astonishing show. When I think back to the ASTM that I joined in 1988 (without the “International” in its name) and compare it to the growing and innovative organization that decades of fine leadership have made it today, I am overwhelmed at how lucky I have been to tell that story.

That story goes on with your next editor in chief, David Walsh, who comes to us with a combination of print and digital magazine and web experience in the global standards community. Having had the pleasure of meeting Dave, I know he’s a great fit for this position. Please welcome him as he helps write the next chapter for ASTM International.

Maryann Gorman
Editor in Chief