AIHA^® Fellows

The AIHA Fellow designation recognizes AIHA members in good standing with 15 years of continuous Full membership who have made recognized contributions to industrial hygiene or related disciplines, either through research, leadership, publications, education, or service to AIHA. Fellows are nominated by an AIHA local section, special interest group, committee, or peers. The Fellow designation is limited to no more than five percent of the membership.

Shannon H. Gaffney, PhD, MHS, CIH, FAIHA Nominated by Anders Abelmann, MS, PhD, CIH; Dana Hollins, MPH, CIH; and Jennifer Sahmel, MPH, CIH, CSP, FAIHA Shannon Gaffney has devoted her professional career to the field of occupational and environmental health and safety. Her experience and expertise include evaluating various aspects of community and worker health. As a principal investigator with Cardno ChemRisk, Gaffney has designed and executed several comprehensive research studies focused on evaluating current or historical worker exposures. She has also evaluated methods for occupational exposure limit development for several chemicals and reconstructed worker and community exposures in a variety of settings and industries. Her breadth and depth of technical skills is impressive, both in terms of evaluating chemical exposures and bigger-picture methodological research. Notably, her range involves both chemical and physical hazards, and her collaborators include peers in private industry, academia, and other fields.

Kathleen S. Murphy, CIH, FAIHA Nominated by Jennifer Sahmel, MPH, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, on behalf of the Fellows Special Interest Group Kathleen Murphy, the director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Sherwin Williams in Cleveland, Ohio, has been an AIHA member since 1998. A graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Murphy has professional experience in business, government, and consulting. Prior to joining Sherwin Williams, Murphy brought her experience to national organizations and global corporations such as OSHA, PolyOne, ExxonMobil, and Honeywell. Her leadership and strategic vision have been instrumental to guiding AIHA’s continued evolution in inclusive, modern, forward-thinking ways that expand the Association’s reach beyond industrial hygiene. She was president of AIHA’s Board of Directors from 2019 to 2020 and has also served on the American Industrial Hygiene Foundation Board of Trustees, the AIHA Finance Committee, the Product Stewardship Society, the Analytical Accreditation Board, the Standards Advisory Panel, several AIHA local sections, and the International Strategy Task Force (as Board Liaison).

Thomas Peters, PhD, CIH, FAIHA Nominated by Kent A. Candee, MS, CIH, CSP, ARM, CPCU, on behalf of the AIHA Iowa/Illinois Local Section Peters’ career has included evaluating real-time aerosol measurement devices, investigating turbulence effects on coarse filters, analyzing size selectors used in chemical speciation samplers, and developing aerosol generators for use in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s human exposure facilities. During his time with the EPA, he contributed to the development of the agency’s National Ambient Air Quality Standard for particulate matter under 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5). In the process of creating the standard, he was responsible for developing and testing PM2.5 sampling hardware, conducting field tests, and drafting portions of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations. Peters also collaborated in the development of novel methods to assess the spatial, temporal, and compositional variability in atmospheric particulate matter in further EPA-funded work. His key role in this work has been to develop and standardize low-cost passive sampling methods with analysis by computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy to determine concentrations of coarse particulates and their compositional makeups.

Philip Platcow, CIH, BS, MS, FAIHA Nominated by Bart Ellingsen, CIH, on behalf of the AIHA New England Local Section As senior vice president of health and safety at The Vertex Companies, Platcow leads monthly health and safety webinars open to all his Vertex colleagues, which cover subjects such as industrial hygiene and safety and on-air monitoring practices and instruments. Platcow also conducts in-house Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) refreshers, respiratory protection seminars, and industrial hygiene exposure assessments, to ensure the highest standards of learning and ultimate performance. He has teamed up with The Vertex Companies’ president and chief operating officer for periodic recorded messages, health and safety webinars, and briefings. Platcow also understands his role as requiring him to excel in explaining health topics, including those related SARS-CoV-2, to his company. Thanks to Platcow’s ability to teach technical subjects in language accessible to non-experts, his colleagues routinely say that they consider The Vertex Companies to be a trusted source for news and information on SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, Platcow led the development of Vertex’s mentoring program and currently serves on the company’s Mentoring Leadership Committee and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council.