It is hard to say goodbye after 32 years – especially when what you are leaving is your life’s work. I am very proud of what we were able to develop and deliver to the Environmental, Safety, and Health (EHS) community through both our Academic Programs (bachelor’s and master’s degrees) and the All Hazards Training Center (AHTC).

Since 1986, we have graduated over 2,000 students from the degree programs and trained over 250,000 people through various AHTC Training workshops. I take a lot of pride in the fact that we have made a tremendous number of people safer, in both their work environment, as well as in their daily lives.

But, we built these programs to last – for at least another 32 years and beyond. We designed them so they would be flexible enough to accommodate the changing needs – both internal and external – of the EHS industry, and the changing focus of the participants. We built it to serve both public and private sector clients. We built it with a focus on meeting the needs of our students and trainees. We have offered whatever approach was necessary to get the job done. We have focused on consistency and quality, and our goal is repeat business from all the constituents that we serve.

With all this said, I have no qualms about leaving. The program will certainly continue to thrive without me, and will continue to provide the EHS Community with the training and education that is needed both now and in the future. I am proud to turn over the Executive Director reins to Jeff McGuire. Jeff has been with the AHTC since 1999, and has been the Director of Operations. It was his job, and his staff’s job, to make sure our clients always received the highest level of quality training available – when they wanted it, where they wanted, and in the format they wanted it in. He, therefore, has been responsible for seeing that our clients come back to us time-after-time, based on their satisfaction that we fulfilled their needs. I can assure you, he will do a fine job!

I want to say a special thank you to all of you – our clients, trainees, students, etc. You have all helped make this an absolutely wonderful experience for me! Thank you as well to my entire full-time and contract staff for the wonderful job they do. And, to the University administration for believing in us and what we were doing.

Lastly, I hated to leave so badly that I talked the University into letting me do some part-time work as a consultant. So, you may still see me around from time to time!

All the best to all of you! And, by all means – STAY SAFE!

Randy VanDyne