The electrical industry lost a real gentleman with the passing Bernard H. (Bernie) Falk, a former president and CEO of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Rossyln, Va., who passed away Sept. 16. In the 1980s, Falk was one of the industry’s most respected leaders. During this period of rapid globalization, he was a staunch advocate for the U.S. electrical market, but also saw that the industry would become more global in the coming decades and worked tirelessly in the standards area to ensure that NEMA manufacturers would not be at a competitive disadvantage.
Falk was also a good friend of Electrical Wholesaling Chief Editor Ganzenmuller, and an industry leader whom the magazine’s editors could always depend on for a thoughtful observation while they were researching an article. In addition to his duties as NEMA president and chairman, he was president of the International Electrical Commission and a board member of Underwriters Laboratories. When NEMA moved its offices from New York to Washington, D.C., you couldn’t take the New York out of Bernie – according to his obituary at www.legacy.com, he remained a staunch Yankees fan.
“Bernie was an innovator and a pioneer who laid much of the groundwork for what NEMA is able to accomplish today,” said NEMA President and CEO Evan R. Gaddis. “Our highest award is named in his honor. Senator John Danforth, Astronaut Neil Armstrong, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff are all past winners of the Falk Award.”
A service and burial will take place Sept. 20, 2013, in New York.