(L-R) National Board Chairman, Joel Amato, Robert Myers, James Myers,
and National Board Executive Director, David Douin
2019 C. O. Myers Safety Medal Recipient
Carl Owen Myers was posthumously presented the 2019 National Board Safety Medal. This award acknowledges Mr. Myers’ lifelong dedication to public safety and his monumental achievements within the boiler and pressure vessel industry. In his honor, the Safety Medal award will now be known as the “C. O. Myers Safety Medal.”
On December 2, 1919, C. O. Myers, the chief boiler inspector for the State of Ohio, met with six other chief inspectors and drew up bylaws for what would become The National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors. Mr. Myers was appointed its first secretary-treasurer. In 1921, he became the first delegate from the National Board to be on the ASME Boiler Code Committee representing all members. In 1939, Mr. Myers left his job as Ohio’s chief inspector to become full-time secretary-treasurer of the National Board. He was chosen as the organization’s first executive director in 1958 – a position he held until his death in 1963.
C. O. Myers played an integral role in establishing many of the National Board’s core institutions, such as inspector commissions, pressure vessel registrations, safety valve testing, the BULLETIN, and the National Board Inspection Code (NBIC). A more detailed account of Mr. Myers’ accomplishments can be found in the winter 2019 issue of the BULLETIN.
C. O. Myers’ grandsons, James and Robert Myers, accepted the award on behalf of their grandfather during the Wednesday Evening Banquet at the 88th General Meeting on May 8.
Nominations are now being accepted for the 2020 C. O. Myers Safety Medal. Click here for more details.