IFMA Announces Executive Committee and Board of Directors

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has announced its 2011-2012 executive committee and board of directors, which began their terms on July 1 Kathy O. Roper, CFM, MCR, LEED AP, IFMA Fellow, will serve as the new chair and chief elected officer of the association’s board of directors, succeeding Francis J. Kuhn, CFM, CFMJ. Roper has more than 20 years of experience in facility management and corporate real estate and is currently an associate professor in the School of Building Construction at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Rounding out IFMA’s new executive committee are First Vice Chair Marc S. Liciardello, CFM, MBA, CM, vice president of corporate services at ARAMARK, and Second Vice Chair Jon Seller, general manager at Optegy Group.

“It is indeed an honor to work with such diverse and qualified professionals [who are] knowledgeable in a range of facility management expertise,” said Roper. “I look forward to learning from everyone and sharing in the expansion of IFMA’s strategic vision that will carry us forward to more and greater successes. This wide range of viewpoints and experiences is what makes IFMA so valuable, and I know our new board has a strong commitment to expanding the profession and making the decisions needed to bring the third decade of IFMA even more professionalism and respect.”

The new members of IFMA’s 2011-2012 board of directors are: Francisco Abrantes, MBA, facility management director at Jones Lang LaSalle; Lesley Groff, CFM, facility manager at The Hershey Company; William M. O’Neill, CFM, associate director of facility management at the University of Minnesota; and James P. Whittaker, P.E.,CFM, EFP, FRICS, president at Facility Engineering Associates. They join existing board members Isilay Civan, MSc, Ph.D.s, LEED AP, senior consultant at HOK; Michael D. Feldman, CM, deputy executive director at Los Angeles World Airports; and Joachim W. Hohmann, MSc, Ph.D., CFM, managing partner of Consultants Circle and professor at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern.