After several years of declining revenues, declining membership and declining show attendance, ISA has announced the appointment of a new Executive Director. Robert C. Renner, since 1996 Deputy Executive Director of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), takes the helm of ISA in the midst of the society's most turbulent and difficult period in its 50-plus year history.
Renner appears an excellent choice for the post because he comes from a society that is similar in many ways to ISA, yet growing and flourishing, where ISA has been faltering.
In the past decade, AWWA has grown to more than 56,000 members where ISA has lost 10,000 members or more during the same time. AWWA is a standards making body, as is ISA, and has a similar variation in membership from technicians to management. Many members of ISA have been urging the use of AWWA as a benchmark for society revitalization, and it appears that voice has been heard.
