At TMS’s 2006 Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon on October 14th, TMS Vice President, Raymond T. Miller, who chairs TMS’s Awards Committee, presented the Society’s first two Service Awards to Mr. Thomas Escobar, Design Director of the Masonry Institute of America and Mr. Jason J. Thompson, Director of Engineering of the National Concrete Masonry Association. The Masonry Society started this new award this year to recognize individuals such as Escobar and Thompson who volunteer in special, and typically unseen, ways. The intent of the award is to recognize those who continually assist the Society, but who are not normally recognized for their efforts.
Thomas Escobar was nominated for the award because of his continued and exceptional service to the Society as Editor of TMS News, where for many years he has assisted TMS in producing the Society Newsletter by laying it out and editing it. The process of developing the newsletter is both time consuming and onerous. Escobar has assisted staff in this effort willingly and expertly.
He has also served TMS in numerous other “behind the scenes” roles including photographer at TMS Meetings, reviewer of Spanish Language documents and correspondence, and now, as TMS Publications Committee Chair. Because of his exceptional service to the Society, he was presented with a TMS Service Award.
Jason J. Thompson received a 2006 TMS Service Award for of his excellent service to the Masonry Standards Joint Committee as Secretary, for which he puts in countless volunteer hours to ensure the work of the committee is done correctly, and meets deadlines. Were he not to perform these roles, TMS staff would likely be tasked with many of these tasks, thus taking valuable time away from other projects.
Thompson serves TMS in many other roles as well, as a reviewer, speaker, investigator (for the disaster investigation team), and promoter of the Society to non-members. Besides donating his time on TMS committees, he has also donated honoraria for seminars he has presented on TMS’s behalf.
