Saralee Newell, PMI Fellow 1940 - 2007

The world of professional project management was surprised and saddened on September 5, 2007 to learn of the loss of Saralee Newell, PMP, PMI Fellow, who passed away suddenly at her home in Florida on Tuesday 4 September. Saralee is survived by her husband Michael, two children, several grandchildren and friends around the world. Saralee was the president of PSM Consulting Services based in Davenport, Florida. She was formerly a project management specialist with Pro Unlimited (PeopleSoft); CSC Inc.; BrightStar Information Technology Group; and Walk, Haydel & Associates, Inc. in New Orleans.

Saralee was active in the project management professional community for many years and was well known among professional leaders in the USA and internationally. Founder and former president of the Greater New Orleans chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®), Saralee served on the PMI board of directors during 1997-1999. She served on the board of directors of the PMI Education Foundation during 1997-2002.

Saralee was the project manager for PMI’s 1995 Seminars/Symposium in New Orleans, one of the most successful in history with over 2,000 attendees, for which she won PMI’s Significant Contribution Award. She also co-hosted the inaugural Global Project Management Forum in 1995, held at the famous World Trade Center on the riverfront in New Orleans. She served on PMI’s Information Systems Advisory Committee, the Global Project Management Forum Steering Committee, the Technical Activities Center (TAC), and the Globalization Project Action Team (GPAT). She was a charter member of PMI’s Information Systems Specific Interest Group (ISSIG) International Development SIG (IDSIG), and Project Earth SIG (now EnviroSIG). Saralee was elected a Fellow of PMI in 2005.

Saralee had extensive experience in consulting and training related to IT project management, Microsoft Project, and traditional project planning and control methodologies. She had many years of experience with project management software tools, including Microsoft and Primavera, and with managing complex information systems development projects. She had PM experience in the automotive, chemicals, computer, educational, engineering, government, IT, petrochemical, transportation & Travel industries. She had been responsible for managing individual projects, enterprise PM and PM offices.

Saralee and Mike Newell suffered the loss of their home in Slidell, Louisiana in August 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated the Southern USA. They evacuated with just suitcases, a few documents, two laptop computers and each other. They relocated to Florida to be near family. Their home was a total loss, along with 90% of their possessions. In recent months, their business had picked up, both Saralee and Michael had become more active again, and both were looking forward to meeting with friends and colleagues at the PMI Global Congress North America in Atlanta. According to Mike, “Saralee was my best friend and companion!”

Editor’s note: Saralee Newell was a personal friend of PMForum Managing Editor David Pells, with whom she worked closely during 1995-1998 on behalf of PMI. They served together on the PMI Board of Directors in 1997. Saralee became an International Correspondent for PMForum in November 2006 and just recently contributed a regional report on projects and project management in Florida (See:http://www.pmworldtoday.net/regional_reports/2007/sep.htm#10).

She was widely respected worldwide for her project management advocacy, expertise, friendliness and professionalism. She will be missed!

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Alan Stretton, AIPM Fellow & former Rhodes Scholar,
Named Global Advisor for PMForum in Australia

Alan Stretton, PhD, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) and former chair of the PMI Standards Committee, has been named a Global Advisor for PMForum in Australia. One of the world’s most widely respected figures in the project management profession, Alan has recently retired from his second project management-related career at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) where he was an Adjunct Professor of Project Management in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building. He joined UTS in 1988 to develop and deliver a Master of Project Management program.

Prior to joining UTS, Alan worked in the building and construction industries in Australia, New Zealand and the USA for some 38 years, which included the management of construction, R&D, introduction of information and control systems, internal management education programs, and organisational change projects.

Alan received a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Tasmania (BE, Tasmania) and a Masters Degree in Mathematics from the University of Oxford (UK). He was the Tasmanian Rhodes Scholar for 1948. He was awarded a Honoris Causa Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, hon) in Strategy, Programme & Project Management by Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Lille, France (ESC, Lille) in 2005 for his many contributions to the field of project management.

Alan started his professional career in the construction division of the Hydro-Electric Commission of Tasmania in 1947-48. He was an engineer and construction supervisor for the Snowy Mountain Hydro-Electric Authority in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, from 1952-1957, which included one year in the USA on in-service training with the Bureau of Reclamation.

Alan was a civil engineering consultant in Dunedin, New Zealand, during 1957-1960, and then spent two years at construction contractors Thiess Bros Pty Ltd before joining Lend Lease Corporation Ltd in Sdyney where he spent the next 26 years. At Lend Lease, now one of the world’s largest construction and property development companies, Alan was Senior Office Engineer, Planning Manager at their head office, Assistant to the Managing Director, Manager of Special Projects (Civil & Civic Pty Ltd) and Manager of Special Projects for Lend Lease. In this latter position, Alan was responsible for corporate planning, “future watch” projects, corporate outreach projects, trouble-shooting, and the development of the “PREDICTE” expert system project.

After retiring from Lend Lease at the end of 1987, Alan joined UTS in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, first as a Visiting Professor and later as an Adjunct Professor of Project Management. He retired in 2006 after nearly 20 years in this second career of researching, writing about and teaching project management in Australia.

Alan was the Australian representative on the International Editorial Board of the International Journal of Project Management from 1992 through 1Dr. Stretton has been extensively involved in project management professional development activities for decades. With the School of Building, UTS, he was involved in part-time teaching of project planning in graduate diploma and masters courses during 1968-75, part-time teaching of company and marketing planning to masters students in 1979, and was chairman of the visiting committee to the School of Building during 1980-87, and visiting professor in 1987.

Alan was Chairman of the Standards (PMBOK) Committee of the Project Management Institute (PMI) from late 1989 to early 1992, and a member of the PMI Standards Committee through 1996. With AIPM, he was a Member of the Professional Affairs Committee during 1990-92, Intersociety Relations Committee 1989-93, Development of Study Guides for Registered Project Manager examinations in 1994, and a Member of the Core Working Group of the Industry Representative Group for the development of Competency Standards for Project Managers during 1994-95. Alan was elected a Life Fellow of AIPM in 1996.

Since 1977, Alan Stretton has published over seventy professional articles and papers related to project management, many of them significant contributions to the field of PM. He has made 34 professional paper presentations at project management conferences since 1980 in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, and the USA.

The PMForum team welcomes Alan Stretton as a Global Advisor for www.pmforum.org, PM World Today and the world of project management.

In September 2006, PMForum announced the formation of a Global Advisory Panel to provide advice and feedback to the editorial team at www.pmforum.org and PM World Today. The PMF Global Advisory Panel now consists of former leaders of project management professional societies and organizations around the world. Their experience and insight help guide PMForum in matters associated with the world of professional project management. In particular, the group advises the managing editor on ways to serve the international PM community. Information about PMForum’s Global Advisors can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#3.

Established in 1995, www.pmforum.org was the world’s first website devoted to professional project management and continues to be one of the world’s most popular sources of project management news and information. PMForum is a company formed to operate and administer the www.pmforum.org website. PMForum also produces the monthly online PM World Today eJournal where articles, case studies, papers and viewpoints by leading PM authorities from around the world can be found; free subscriptions are available at www.pmworldtoday.net.

 

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Renate Prantner appointed International Correspondent
for PMForum in Vienna, Austria

Renate Prantner has been named an International Correspondent for PMForum in Vienna, Austria. Renate is a research fellow for project management at the PROJEKTMANAGEMENT GROUP at the University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna where she has worked since 2004

At the PROJEKTMANAGEMENT GROUP Renate has been part of the programme office in the research programme project orientation [international], of the project team in project orientation [austria II] and project orientation [sk-at]. She is coordinating the international project “PM CAT” to develop a web-based tool for competence assessment and coordinates the international network PMUni, which aims at promoting professional education and research in project and process management.

Renate has a Masters degree in International Business Administration from the University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna, where she is currently writing her doctoral thesis on the subject of “Change Management – Project and Process Orientation”.

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Miles Shepherd Named Global Advisor for PMForum in UK

Mr. Miles Shepherd has been named a global advisor in the United Kingdom by PMForum, Inc. Mr. Shepherd has been working as an International Correspondent for PMForum in the UK for the last year and will continue in that capacity as well. A Honorary Fellow and former chair of the Association for Project Management (APM), Miles is one of the best known project management leaders in Britain and across Europe.

Miles Shepherd, BSc, MAPM, MBCS, CITP, CMIPD, APMP, has been involved with project management in one form or another for more than 30 years, and has led a variety of projects in UK, Eastern Europe and Russia. He has a background in defence, development of Information Technology strategy and the implementation of major IT projects. Qualified to Post Graduate level in computing, he moved on to develop specialised training in project management and information technology development for UK Government staff.

His later work centered on the development of project management techniques to help decommission nuclear reactors in UK and Eastern Europe. He has worked on decommissioning projects throughout UK and in Eastern Europe. Overseas tasks included consulting assignments at Chernobyl, Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant and Bohunice A1 plant in Slovakia.

Other assignments included support to the rail industry and business development assignments, including management of a major collaborative project for the European Commission to strengthen the accreditation capabilities in Eastern European countries, and the development of post graduate project management education in Romania. Miles Shepherd is also an Associate Lecturer and research supervisor for the Open University in the UK and Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University. He holds the honorary post of Senior Research Fellow at University College, London.

Miles holds significant posts with the Association for Project Management (APM), the UK’s national PM association (Vice President, and past Chairman) and the International Project Management Association (Past President and Chairman of Council). He is well known throughout the project management professional world, and has been a speaker at numerous project management conferences worldwide.

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