Mr. Bhatia, formerly executive vice president and chief operating officer of the international group at Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL), was elected at a special meeting of the ANSI Board of Directors earlier today. The announcement was made following an intensive global search to identify a successor to Dr. Mark W. Hurwitz, CAE, who will be retiring from ANSI at year-end. Bhatia will join ANSI on January 1, 2006.
“Joe Bhatia has the skills, capabilities, passion and enthusiasm to lead ANSI into the future,” said Dr. John V. Bergen, chairman of the Board Search Committee. “He has a strong business background and a high level of comfort in the volunteer-driven, not-for-profit world. He has a strong knowledge of ANSI and is well known within the standardization and conformity assessment systems, within the government sphere, and on the international business scene.”
“It is indeed a privilege and an honor for me to be given the opportunity to be a part of ANSI’s future success,” Bhatia said. “The Institute is an important focal point organization in this country and the role it plays in the next decade will be critical to U.S. industry, standards developing organizations, government, consumers and other stakeholders.”
During his 35-year tenure with Underwriters Laboratories, Mr. Bhatia assumed positions of progressive leadership in global business operations. His areas of responsibility have included engineering, governmental and external affairs, follow-up (certification) services and, most recently, direction of UL’s $300+ million international operations. Among his numerous professional affiliations and certifications, Mr. Bhatia is a member and past chairman of the government-sponsored Industry Technical Advisory Committee on Standards and Conformity Assessment. He is a member of the Standards Engineering Society, and a frequent lecturer in the U.S. and around the world on topics such as international trade, technical developments, commercial market access, and health, safety and environmental concerns. He is currently an ANSI Board member and serves as chairman of the United States Standards Strategy Committee.
Mr. Bhatia holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering and a master of science in business management. He and his wife, Punita, will be relocating to the Washington, DC, metropolitan area from Northbrook, Illinois.
ANSI is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Comprised of nearly 1,000 businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations, the ANSI Federation represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 entities and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.
The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). ANSI is headquartered in Washington, DC and has its operations office in New York City.