Louis Mercken Named PMI Fellow in Atlanta

Reported live from Atlanta by PMForum

Louis Mercken, former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and a global advisor to PMForum, has been named a winner of the 2007 PMI Fellow Award. This is the highest honor bestowed on PMI members. The formal presentation of the 2007 PMI Fellow Award was made during the PMI Awards Ceremony at the PMI® Global Congress 2007 – North America, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on Saturday afternoon, October 6, 2007.

Louis J. Mercken, MBA, PMP is an International Partner and Chairman of the Threon Group, a leading international organization in Project Management Services, based in Belgium with facilities in most major countries in Europe. Threon specializes in delivering worldwide Project Management Excellence Education and Coaching to large international companies. His organization also provides Executive Consulting in Portfolio, Program and Project Management to the Boards of major companies. Threon started in May 2001 and developed in 5 years time into one of the leading European companies in the field of Project Management.

During the last 20 years, Louis has worked as a senior executive with large multinationals such as Computer Science Corporation in Europe, and La Général de Belgique, the largest Belgian industrial and banking group. Louis has been a PMI member since 1995 and was a founder, Vice-President and president of the PMI Benelux chapter, a chapter covering 3 countries that grew from a starting membership of 63 to more than 600. He served as a Director at large and Member of the PMI Board of Directors during 2002-2004. In 2004 he was re-elected to the PMI Board of Directors and then elected Chair of the PMI Board in 2005, the first non-North American to fill that position.

Mr. Mercken is one of the most respected and best known project management leaders in Europe, an experienced executive and a project management expert in a wide range of applications and industries. He is a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and holds degrees of Bachelor in Economics, MBA in Finance/Accountancy, MBA in Operational Research and an additional degree in Computer Sciences.

In 1982 he followed the INSEAD Management Program and the IMEDE (Switzerland) extended program Finance for non-finance Executives. From mid 97 to mid 2001, he was visiting professor in Project Management Excellence at the International Institute for Project Management at the Leonardo de Vinci University in Paris-La Défense. Since October 2002 up to now, Louis is Executive Professor for a Project Management Excellence Program for UAMS (Universities Antwerp Management School).

The PMI Global Congress North America is the largest PMI event and one of the largest PM conferences in the world each year. Other PMI Global Congress are held annually in the Asia Pacific Region, Europe-Middle East-Africa, and in Latin America. With 240,000+ members in over 150 countries, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) is the world’s largest and best known project management professional organization. PMI is actively engaged in advocacy for the PM profession, setting standards, conducting research and providing access to a wide variety of PM-related information and resources. PMI also promotes career and professional development and offers certification, networking and community involvement opportunities. PMI was founded in the USA in 1969, but is now a global organization with members, chapters and offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.pmi.org.

We at PMForum and PM World Today want to congratulate Louis for his important contributions to the project management profession, as evidenced by his winning this prestigious award. Out of nearly 250,000 PMI members worldwide, fewer than 50 have ever won this prestigious award.

PMI® and PMP® are registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute.

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Philip Diab from Jordan Elected 2008 Chair of PMI Board of Directors; Chen and Bounds Also Elected officers

The Project Management Institute (PMI®) has announced the election of Officers for the 2008 PMI Board of Directors on Saturday, October 6, 2007. Philip Diab of Amman, Jordan was elected Chair. Dr. Yanping Chen of Washington, DC was elected Vice Chair, and Eugene Bounds of Alexandria, Virginia was elected Secretary/Treasurer.

2008 Chair - Philip R. Diab, MBA, PMP is managing director for Leadership Formation based in Amman, Jordon. He was previously the chief projects officer for the Aregon Group, a company serving the Middle East region with management consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services. Mr. Diab has an MBA in international management from Thunderbird School in Phoenix, Arizona, a BS degree in business administration from Birmingham-Southern College in the USA, the Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential from PMI, and the IBM Executive Project Manager Certification. Philip is currently vice chair of the PMI Board, and served previously as board secretary/treasurer, Performance Oversight Committee (POC) chair, and Strategic Planning and Program Alignment (SPPA) Committee chair. Prior to joining the PMI board he served as chair of the Assembly of SIG Chairs, founder and president of the Thunderbird International Student Chapter, vice president of the PMI Baton Rouge Chapter, vice president for education and certification of the PMI Central Iowa Chapter, founder and chair of the Marketing and Sales SIG, vice chair for the Financial Services SIG, Leadership Conference Member Advisory Group (MAG) member, and Planning Committee member.

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PMI Fellows come together in Atlanta

Seventeen Fellows of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) came together in Atlanta during the PMI Global Congress 2007 – North America during 6-9 October 2007. The PMI Fellow award is PMI’s highest individual honor, with only 51 PMI leaders having won this award in the Institute’s history. Each year PMI invites all living Fellows to attend the annual awards banquet, when new Fellows are named, and to meet for a Fellows’ lunch in conjunction with the PMI Global Congress – North America. This year, PMI welcomed Louis Mercken and Julie Wilson as the newest PMIF Fellows.

PMI Fellows, with home city (& year of Fellow award) who came together in Atlanta this year included:

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Debbie O'Bray named Global Advisor for PMForum in Canada

Debbie O’Bray, former chair of the Board of Directors of the Project Management Institute (PMI®), has been named a global advisor for PMForum in Canada. Debbie is currently with Investors Group Financial Services Inc, where she is responsible for the project management practice across an enterprise IS organization, which spans five companies in both Canada and Europe.

Debbie O’Bray, CIM (Hons), is also currently the Secretary of the PMI Educational Foundation Board of Directors. Debbie has enjoyed a diverse and distinguished career in project management that includes twenty one years in the telecommunication industry followed by seven years in project management consulting.

During her consulting career, Debbie worked extensively in China, Mexico, and Europe with organizations in a variety of industries including banking and finance, new product development, mining, aerospace, and environmental engineering to improve their performance through better project management. A passionate PMI volunteer since 1992, Debbie has served in many capacities at the local, national, and international levels. She is a founder of the PMI Manitoba Chapter and served on the chapter’s Board of Directors for five years, including three years as Chapter President.

In 1992 she joined the PMI Standards Committee, serving as a core team member and key contributor to the development of the 1996 edition of the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Debbie’s contribution to standards development was recognized with a PMI Presidential Citation in 1995. At the international level, Debbie served on the PMI Board of Directors for a total of six years in positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to assuming the role of Board Chair in 2003, she held the positions of Secretary-Treasurer, Executive Committee Member, Vice Chair, and Chair of the Strategic Planning and Program Alignment Committee.

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Ammar Mango named International Correspondent
for PMForum in Jordan

Mr. Ammar Mango has been named an International Correspondent for PMForum in Amman, Jordan. Ammar is also the CEO of Method Corporation, an Amman-based project management consulting, product and services company.

Ammar W. Mango, PMP, CSSBB, is principal consultant and enabler for Method Corporation, a project management company with primary offices in Jordan and clients throughout the Middle East. With over seventeen years of global experience in Project Management & Leadership consulting and training, he is considered an international expert on the subjects and enjoys a superb reputation as an inspirational trainer and consultant. Mr. Mango has provided his services in the United States and the Middle East to global organizations like Visteon Systems (USA), Ford Motor (USA), Detroit Edison (USA), Fermi II Nuclear Plant (USA), Qatar Petroleum (Qatar), Saudi Telecom Company (KSA), Al Fotaim Group (UAE) and others. Mr. Mango is a published author and columnist on organizational leadership and project management.

Ammar holds a bachelor’s degree from Jordan University and a Master's Degree in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. He has been certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute (PMI) since 1991, and as a Six Sigma Black Belt by the American Society for Quality. He served as Vice President, Education, PMI Great Lakes Chapter in 1993, and is the founder and currently an active member of the PMI Jordanian Chapter. He has been a guest speaker at a number of international Project Management seminars and symposiums around the world.

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