William A. Wildhack Award

The Wildhack Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of metrology and measurement science, consistent with the goals of NCSL International.

The award was established in 1970 in honor and recognition of William Wildhack, a long-time employee of the U.S. National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Mr. Wildhack was not only very instrumental in the founding of the NCSL, but also, through his wisdom, his leadership, his dedication and foresight, he helped shape the organization during its early formative years.

The award carries an honorarium and includes a bronze and silver medallion bearing the likeness of Mr. Wildhack. This year's recipient is the 36th individual to be so honored.

2006 William A. Wildhack Award Winner

Mr. John Wehrmeyer

John Wehrmeyer, retired since 2001 from a 20-year career at Kodak Research Labs in Rochester, NY, has received the 2006 William Wildhack Award from NCSL International. It is presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of metrology and measurement science, consistent with the goals of NCSLI. The award was presented August 7, 2006 at the organization's annual Workshop and Symposium in Nashville, TN, by Past President Harry Moody, who chaired the selection committee.

Wehrmeyer's award was based on his more than 20 years of service to NCSLI in its management ranks, his contributions to the technical successes of NCSLI, his tireless work chairing multiple committees involved in the Z540 activities. He was an NCSLI Vice President, presented papers and was involved in many aspects of our annual conferences.

John Wehrmeyer has been an active supporter of NCSLI for over twenty (20) years. There are several activities John was involved in that are noteworthy of mention. First of all, John was very active in the initial version of the ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994 standard. He then was co-chair for the committee that developed the "Handbook for the Interpretation and Application of ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994." The latter took 2 years of dedicated effort to put together.

Next he was chair and vice-chair for adapting the GUM to became a US standard as ANSI/NCSL Z540-2-1997. Once again, managing a large committee.

Finally John was chair of the NCSLI Standards writing committee, number 174, for adapting standards under the ANSI code Z540. He chaired that committee for several years, organizing summarized comments from NCSLI members for the IEC/ISO 17025 standard, which followed the ISO Guide 25. During his tenure, as chair of this committee, he also started the process of drafting an update to
ANSI/NCSL Z540-1-1994.

John has been involved in numerous other NCSLI activities. He was an NCSLI Vice President. In addition, over the years he not only presented papers and participated in panel discussions, he also conducted workshops, held a very important tutorial for us with 60 attendees, and is always willing and able to offer his advice and guidance in regard to metrology issues. John was the Technical Manager of the Corporate Metrology Center for Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, New York from 1981 to 2001.

His responsibilities were as follows:

• Responsible for all technical and quality aspects of six (6) laboratories that maintained Kodak's corporate standards. He was also instrumental in helping to organize the world-wide Kodak metrology organization.
• Laboratories performed high precision electrical, dimensional, mass, thermodynamics, radiometric, and photometric measurements.
• Laboratories achieved NAMAS accreditation for seventeen (17) different measurement disciplines.

John has been involved in other activities such as:

• Member of the U.S. TAG 4, WG-3 on Metrology
• Member of U.S. TAG to ISO TC 176
• Member of the National Science Foundation Evaluation Panel to NIST
• Assessor for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS)
• Member of the Board of Directors of the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA)
• Assessor for A2LA (Conducted 177 assessments for A2LA)

John has been honored with the following awards:

• The Steinhart Medal for Technical Contributions to Metrology, 1976
• The Andrew Woodington Award for professionalism in Metrology, 2000

Because of John's outstanding contributions to NCSLI and Metrology, he has been honored as the 2006 recipient of the NCSLI

John's personal reaction was typical. His reponse: "Thank you for your comments. No one was more surprised than I was. I have been blessed with wonderful friends and many amazing experiences and I credit these recognitions to them."

After leaving Kodak, John and Sally moved to Maryville, Tennessee in 2002, where he carried on his consulting business. They particularly enjoy the colorful autumns in New York, but the scenery here in the foothills of the Smokey Mountains is beautiful too.

They now have nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He says their mission in life is to make sure that they are properly spoiled. When he is not doing assessments for A2LA, consulting with calibration laboratories to help them prepare to become accredited, or teaching measurement uncertainty, he enjoys spending time in the garden and raising koi in the pond behind the house.