Board Chairman RK Stewart (left) and Institute President Henry L. Green present Mary B. Verner

The United States Senate has confirmed four presidential nominees to the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors. Last year, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate James "Tim" Ryan, CBO; Mary B. Verner; Susan A. Maxman, FAIA; and James Timberlake, FAIA, to the Institute’s Board. Following the Senate’s voice vote this April 26, the White House issued official documents appointing the nominees to the Board.

Nominated last July 21, Ryan currently serves as vice chair of the National Institute of Building Sciences Board of Directors and chairs the Institute’s Coordinating Council. A certified building official, he was first elected to the Board in 2006 as a local agency official, a non-presidential appointee in the public interest category. Code administrator for the City of Overland Park, Kan., Ryan has more than 30 years of experience in administration, enforcement and development of construction safety codes, construction management and methods. He holds certifications in 15 separate certificates in various disciplines of codes administration and enforcement. Ryan’s term on the Board expires September 7, 2013.

Nominated last September 6, Verner is currently the chief executive officer for the Spokane (Wash.) Tribe Enterprises. The former mayor of Spokane, she was sworn in as the 43rd mayor of the city in November 2007. As the city’s chief executive officer, she was responsible for directing the activities of the city’s two thousand employees and managing a $600 million annual budget. Verner has a broad range of experience in business, law, planning, policy development, program design and management. She led her city’s programs to retrofit residential, commercial and public buildings to be energy-efficient. Verner’s terms on the Board expires September 7, 2015.

Nominated last September 23, Susan A. Maxman, FAIA, is a nationally recognized advocate and expert on the principles of sustainable design and historic preservation. She founded SMP Architects in 1980 and served as principal architect of the firm until 2011. In 1993, upon becoming the first female president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Maxman made environmentally sensitive design a priority for her administration. Maxman sat on the Eco-Efficiency Task Force of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, represented the architectural profession at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and chaired the Urban Land Institute’s Environmental Council. She has served on numerous boards and organizations and received a number of honors. Maxman’s terms on the Board expires September 7, 2015.

Nominated last October 3, James Timberlake, FAIA, is a founding partner of the Philadelphia-based, award-winning and internationally published architecture firm, KieranTimberlake. Since its founding, the firm has received more than a hundred design citations, including the 2008 Architecture Firm Award, the highest honor bestowed on a firm by AIA, and the 2010 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. Co-author of five books, Timberlake has taught at a number of universities. He lectures extensively in the United States and abroad and has received prizes and fellowships for his work. Timberlake’s term on the Board expires September 7, 2014.


About the National Institute of Building Sciences
The National Institute of Building Sciences, authorized by public law 93-383 in 1974, is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that brings together representatives of government, the professions, industry, labor and consumer interests to identify and resolve building process and facility performance problems. The Institute serves as an authoritative source of advice for both the private and public sectors with respect to the use of building science and technology. For more information, please visit www.nibs.org.