Three members received the Lifetime Achievement Award and another received the Outstanding Service Award during the Appraisal Institute’s Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Another three members received the President’s Award. The late Harmon H. Garrin, MAI, SRA, of Roswell, Ga.; Jesse B. Vance Jr., MAI, SRA, of Plantation, Fla.; and W. West Foster, MAI, of Greeley, Colo., received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Val K. Chiasson, MAI, of Boca Raton, Fla., received the Outstanding Service Award. The Appraisal Institute is the nation’s largest professional association of real estate appraisers with more than 24,000 members in 60 countries.
President’s Award recipients were John H. Urubek, MAI, of Darien, Ill.; Stephen F. Fanning, MAI, of Denton, Texas; and Robert W. Dunham, MAI, SRA, of St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an Appraisal Institute member who demonstrates high ethical standards; has volunteered several years of service and has contributed to the Appraisal Institute on the chapter, regional, national and/or international level; has served his or her community; and has contributed to the appraisal profession for at least 20 years.
When he died in June, Garrin was a member of the Appraisal Institute’s national Board of Directors as Region IX vice chair and was on the Audit Committee. As an instructor, he taught seven AI courses and was known as a mentor to trainee appraisers. He also was a generous donor to the Atlanta Area Chapter’s Education Scholarship fund and the annual State of Atlanta Conference.
A member of the Appraisal Institute and its predecessor organizations for more than half a century, Vance has served on AI’s national Board of Directors and on several national committees, including the Government Relations Committee. A current Region X representative from the South Florida Chapter of the Appraisal Institute, he has served his chapter as chair of the Florida State Government Relations Subcommittee and as chair of the Florida State Legislation and Regulation Subcommittee.
Foster has been involved in appraisal ethics and counseling work for decades. He has served as chair of the Appraisal Institute’s national Professional Ethics and Counseling Committee and as chair of AI’s national Ethics Administration Division. He also has served as a member of the AI national Board of Directors, on the Board of Examiners for General Demonstration Appraisal Reports, as a contributor to four editions of “The Appraisal of Real Estate” and on the committee to write the textbook’s ninth edition.
The Outstanding Service Award is presented annually to an individual who has contributed ideas, service hours and dedication to ensure a specific program or effort is implemented at the chapter, region, national or international level. The individual must be instrumental in the success of the program or effort, which also must be far enough along to measure and provide proof of success. Additionally, the program or effort must be beneficial to chapters, regions, national, international, members or the profession.
Chiasson serves as secretary of the South Florida Chapter and as regional representative to Region X. He was a director on the South Florida Chapter’s board from 2008 to 2010, and he served as the chapter’s public relations chair in 2008 and 2009. Chiasson attended AI’s Leadership Development and Advisory Council in 2009 and 2010. Last year he served on the Union of Pan American Associations of Valuation’s Planning Committee, and this year he served on the Appraisal Institute’s Annual Meeting Advisory Group.
Appraisal Institute President Joseph C. Magdziarz, MAI, SRA, also presented three members with the President’s Award, which is given at the president’s discretion to someone who is committed to the organization, currently engaged in its activities, is an effective spokesperson, a representative at all times, and who is in touch with both the needs of other members and the changes that the organization must help its members to meet.
Urubek is serving his fourth year on the Appraisal Institute’s Education Committee. He has served on AI’s Body of Knowledge Committee, the Curriculum Subcommittee, the Narrative Exam Grading Panel and as education chair for the Chicago Chapter of the Appraisal Institute.
Fanning served several years on AI’s General Appraiser Board Comprehensive Exam Subcommittee. He also has been on the Education Committee and has served the North Texas Chapter as a regional representative.
Dunham is in his first year of a two-year term as a trustee for the Real Estate Appraiser Group Insurance Trust. He is an instructor and has served on several panels. He served four years on the Appraisal Institute’s Education Committee and a year on the Curriculum Subcommittee.
