Principles of Fire Behavior and Combustion

Dr. Richard G, Gann recently retired from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.' He led and conducted research into nearly all aspects of fire science for 40 years, notably leading to decreases in the fatalities from cigarette-initiated fires and the severity of bed fires.' His leadership of the Department of Defense’s Next Generation Fire Suppression Technology Program was credited with revitalizing the field of fire suppression science.' He was the editor/author of the Government’s final reports reconstructing the World Trade Center disaster on September 11, 2001.' His awards include two Gold Medals from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Ingberg Award from ASTM International, the Sjolin Award from the FORUM of International Fire Research Directors, and the Interflam Award.' In 2011, he was recognized with the (U.S.) Presidential Rank of Distinguished Senior Professional, the highest commendation afforded to Federal employees.'Dr. Gann is active in transferring research findings into practice through fire safety standards, including chairing the subcommittee on fire threat to people and the environment within the International Standards Organization and the NFPA Toxicity Technical Advisory Committee.'Dr. Gann earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from Trinity College (Connecticut) and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from M.I.T.' He has served on the Editorial Boards of Fire and Materials, Combustion and Flame, and Fire Technology.' Raymond Friedman obtained a doctorate in chemical engineering and physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin. His thesis was a study of hydrogen combustion, supported by the Office of Naval Research. He was employed for ten years at Westinghouse Research Laboratories.'He published papers on the mechanism of combustion. Then he worked for 14 years at Atlantic Research Corporation.'He became vice president in charge of the Research Division of Atlantic Research. Subsequently, he was a consultant to NASA on combustion. He was president of the Combustion Institute (an international organization) for four years. He served on several committees of the National Research Council. He is author of three books: Principles of Fire Protection Chemistry, Problem Solving for Engineers and Scientists, and The Foreseeable Future.