STILLWATER, Okla. – During the Opening General Session of the International Fire Service Training Association 91st Annual Validation Conference held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on July 13, 2024, the 2024 Marvin L. Austin Distinguished Leadership Award was presented to Jon Bubke, Fire Protection Publications retired business operations coordinator.
The Marvin L. Austin Distinguished Leadership Award is presented by FPP staff in recognition of outstanding leadership efforts at the IFSTA Validation Conference. The award is not presented every year, but only when the staff believes there is someone worthy of this recognition.
This year the staff determined that Jon Bubke was worthy of this award. He was the coordinator of the IFSTA Validation Conference and Winter Meeting airport/meeting site transportation for many years. He also assisted with other behind-the-scenes functions that helped make the conferences a success. Jon performed numerous functions in his 26 years of service to make IFSTA and FPP successful, including oversight of the warehouse operations, inventory monitoring, managing the FPP staff vehicles, and several other tasks prior to his retirement on June 30, 2023.
“If they are lucky, every organization should have a guy like Jon,” said Mike Wieder, IFSTA executive director and FPP associate director. “Jon had oversight of a number of important business functions at FPP, in addition to managing the critical transportation function at IFSTA Validation Conferences and Winter Meetings. In many cases, new IFSTA committee delegates’ first contact with the organization was when Jon, or one of his staff members, picked up the person at the airport and transported them to the meeting hotel. Jon always left them with a positive first impression of the organization. We were blessed to have him as part of our team.”
WRITTEN BY: Mike Wieder | IFSTA Executive Director and FPP Associate Director
The International Fire Service Training Association is an organization of fire service personnel who are dedicated to upgrading firefighting techniques and safety through training. Since 1934, IFSTA has been the worldwide leader of the fire service in developing fire and emergency responder training materials. IFSTA produces training manuals, eBooks, curriculum, test prep, workbooks, skill sheets, interactive courses, instructor resources and more. For IFSTA-FPP media inquiries, contact the IFSTA Marketing Department at marketing@ifsta.org or call 800-654-4055.
