Former USNC President and ANSI Board Officer Donald Fleckenstein Dies at 83
New York October 12, 2009 -- Friends, members, staff, and colleagues of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) mourn the loss of Donald C. Fleckenstein, a valued member of the standards and conformity assessment community. Mr. Fleckenstein died on September 7, 2009. He was 83 years old.
Mr. Fleckenstein spent his 39 year professional career at General Electric, serving in a number of technical and managerial capacities. In his most recent position, he served as the company's manager of industry standards, providing leadership in maintaining an effective interface with associations, standards organizations, and regulating and legislative bodies.
A distinguished member of the standards community, Mr. Fleckenstein served as president of the U.S. National Committee (USNC) to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) from 1982 to 1989, and as a member of the Committee for over two decades. His service promoted the adoption and use of voluntary standards and in improving U.S. relationships with other nation's delegations to the IEC.
Mr. Fleckenstein also served as the vice chairman for the ANSI Board of Directors, elected to that position in 1986. He was chair of the Board of Trustees of the ANSI International Fund, as well as chairman of the Long-Range Study Committee of the ANSI Board of Directors.
Over his decades of service, Mr. Fleckenstein is credited for concluding an agreement on the exchange of technical information between the IEC and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), revising IEC operating procedures, and strengthening the U.S. position of influence in the IEC process. He received many honors for his work, including the ANSI Astin-Polk Award in 1991, the NFPA Distinguished Service Award in 1982, the IEEE Charles Proteus Steinmetz Award in 1992, and the IEEE Standards Board Distinguished Service Award in 1997.
Mr. Fleckenstein is survived by his wife, Margaret Rickey Fleckenstein, two children, three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, as well as his brother and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held on October 24 at the United Methodist Church in Westport, CT.
