ASTM International Committee F15 on Consumer Products has honored Katharine E. Morgan, vice president of technical committee operations at ASTM, with the 2008 Margaret Dana Award.  Morgan served as ASTM staff manager for Committee F15 for 15 years before she was promoted to vice president in 2007.

Morgan was honored "in recognition of tireless efforts in support of the activities of Committee F15 on Consumer Products and for unwavering commitment to safety through the development of global safety standards."

A graduate of Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., where she received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering, Morgan began her career with ASTM International in 1984 as staff manager.  In 1990, she was promoted to director of technical committee operations, a position she held for eleven years before being promoted to general manager of technical committee operations in 2001.  In this position, she oversaw multiple areas in the technical committee operations division and served as manager of Committee F15 and its more than 50 subcommittees as well as Committee D20 on Plastics. 

During Morgan's time as staff manager for F15, the committee worked on major revisions to important industry standards for toy safety and playground equipment and formed several new subcommittees.  In 2007, she testified before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection, discussing the U.S. system of standardization, the role of standards development organizations, and the development and maintenance of ASTM's globally recognized standard, F963, Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, as well as related activities of Committee F15.

Morgan is a member of the Standards Engineering Society and the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization.  She earned her M.B.A. from Widener University, Chester, Pa.

Release #7972