If I did not have mentors in my life during my early career, where would I be today? Recently, my mentor, Tom Lemons, an IES Fellow and a titan in the lighting industry, passed away after a long illness. To honor Tom’s life, I would like to tell how he impacted mine.
I first met Tom back in the 1980s, when I had just left UL to start an independent laboratory assisting lighting manufacturers in gaining a product safety listing. Tom, in addition to being a consultant, had a side gig designing specialty lighting fixtures that solved difficult problems. He came out to my fledging laboratory with a lighting fixture that used an unjacketed metal halide lamp (HQI) to produce an extremely narrow, highintensity beam used in tobacco production. While Tom was 20 years my senior, he humbled himself to seek help as the Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory Program kept rejecting his product.
Later, Tom was designing more products using HQI lamps and asked me to co-author an article for LD+A about how instant-start, metal halide lamps solved difficult problems, as well as serve as a presenter with him at the IES Annual Conference. At the conference, I became aware of his strong sense of accepting new technologies when he lambasted the audience for not being accepting of new ideas. Tom was strong minded and spoke his feelings.
Tom always encouraged me to be active in IES activities and asked me to replace him as the chair of the Luminaire and Light Control Committee during The Lighting Handbook update period. He led by example and was giving of his time to the IES.
Years went by and then Tom asked if I would be interested in taking over as the regional vice president for IES’ Southeast Region. He explained the importance of the position and as I traveled around in the region, I learned so much about how other IES Sections operated. Tom always spoke of past IES functions and how a strong membership is one where folks all participate to make the Society better.
When Tom was trying to slow down years later, he reached out to me about taking over his side gig in designing specialty lighting fixtures. Even though my consulting gig was extremely busy, here was my turn to help Tom. The next five years were extremely interesting; I expanded my knowledge of optics and lighting and worked on many prestigious projects including lighting show caves, bridges, the rapids at Niagara Falls, and many other exciting challenges. Mentors often know what you’re capable of long before you accept the challenge.
Here’s my challenge to each of you: share your knowledge with those who come after us. Be bold, lead by example, and help me in honoring Tom by becoming a mentor to others.
Jerry Plank, LCCEO/Founder, Wilger TestingSarasota, FL
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