Mary Boyd, VP of Government and Regulatory Affairs
The first 911 call placed on February 16, 1968 marked a turning point for our country. More importantly, however, the 911 ecosystem that we take for granted would not be possible without the contributions of an extraordinary group of men and woman who have dedicated their careers to saving lives.
As part of West’s celebration of 50 years of 911, we’ve compiled this list of the innovators, policy makers and public safety professionals who we believe have made 911 what it is today. I could go into detail about why each of these individuals deserve a place on our “#50in911”. Ultimately, however, the selection criteria came down to the fact that they all share at least one of the following traits:
- Dedication to the persistent pursuit of the improvement of 911
- Longevity within public safety—in a few cases, working at a state or national level for more than 25 years
- Development of 911 technological systems and solutions
- Working quietly and often without significant recognition to advance the standards and performance of 911
To everyone on this list and to the families of the ones we’ve lost, West thanks you for making 911 better.
- Michael Amarosa, Tkc Consulting
- Evelyn Bailey, National Association of State 911 Administrators (NASNA)
- James Beutelspacher, State of Minnesota (deceased)
- Joe Blaschka, ADCOMM Engineering Company
- Thera Bradshaw, RapidSOS and Former NENA President
- Tom Breen, AT&T
- Martha Carter, Caddo Parish Communications District
- Bruce Cheney, New Hampshire Division of Emergency Communications
- Mike DeWeese, West’s Safety Services
- Toni Dunne, Hamilton Telecommunications
- Pete Eggiman, Minnesota Metropolitan Emergency Services Board
- Chris Fischer, Presidential Partners Consulting and Former APCO President
- Judy Flores, Black Hawk Consolidated Public Safety Communications Center
- Brian Fontes, NENA
- Norm Forshee, Illinois NENA (deceased)
- Jack Fuller, Founder of Plant Equipment (Motorola) (deceased)
- Jim Goerke, Texas 911 Alliance
- Jeff Grossman, Massachusetts State 911 Department (deceased)
- George Heinrichs, Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network and Founder of Intrado (West’s Safety Services)
- William Hinkle, FirstNet and Former NENA President
- Roger Hixson, NENA
- Lavergne Hogan, Greater Harris County 911 Emergency Network (deceased)
- Barbara Jaeger, State of Arizona 911
- David Jones, Mission Critical Partners
- Wil Little, Founder of Informer Systems (deceased)
- Michael Mangini, Motorola
- Stephen Meer, ANDE and Founder of Intrado (West’s Safety Services)
- John Melcher, The Melcher Group and Former NENA President
- Harriett Miller-Brown, State of Michigan 911
- Kevin Murray, Mission Critical Partners
- Richard Muscat, Bexar Metro 911 Network District
- Bob Oenning, State of Washington 911 (retired)
- Donna Platt, North Carolina Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing
- Nancy Pollock, Mission Critical Partners
- Steve Procter, Utah Communications Authority (retired)
- Richard Ray, City of Los Angeles Department on Disability
- Roger Reinhke, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) (deceased)
- Leah Senitte, State of California 911 (retired)
- Arnold Shapiro, Rescue 911
- Robert Sherry, West’s Safety Services
- John Snapp, West’s Safety Services
- Steve Souder, Fairfax County Department of Public Safety Communications (retired)
- Chuck Spalding, Palm Beach County
- William E. Stanton, NENA
- Richard Taylor, State of North Carolina 911
- Reg Weiser, Founder Of Positron
- Tom Wheeler, Federal Communications Commission (retired)
- Jeff Wittek, Motorola
- Rick Woodsome, West’s Safety Services (deceased)
- David Yandell, State of Oregon 911 and Former NENA President
Who Did We Miss?
Maybe you’re thinking right now of a noteworthy person who should have made our list. We welcome your suggestions and comments here or on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter using the hashtag #50in911.