The National Paint & Coatings Association presented Thomas Sullivan, retired chairman and CEO of RPM Inc. and NPCA's outgoing chairman, with the George Baugh Heckel Award, the association's highest honor. The Heckel Award, which was presented at NPCA's 116th Annual Meeting, is given to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself through contributions to a major industry success or the advancement of an NPCA goal.
During his tenure as NPCA chairman, the association negotiated a milestone agreement on behalf of industry with state attorneys general establishing lead exposure warnings, education and training programs signed by 51 state attorneys general and their counterparts in May 2003. The agreement removed the impetus for state-sponsored litigation on the lead-paint issue.