Popov Honored as American Industrial Hygiene Association Fellow

By Jeff Murphy, April 13, 2020

WARRENSBURG, MO – In recognition of his efforts to improve workers’ health and safety and to advance the practice of industrial hygiene, University of Central Missouri faculty member Georgi Popov, Ph.D., is being recognized as a Fellow of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (FAIHA).

Popov is a professor of safety sciences in the School of Geoscience, Physics, and Safety. To be considered for the award, an individual has to be a member of AIHA continuously for 15 years. The AIHA Awards and Fellows Nominating Committee also bases its selection on criteria that includes contributions to industrial hygiene or related disciplines, either through research, leadership, publications, education, or service to the association.

Demonstrating the difficulty of achieving the Fellow designation, only 5 percent of the AIHA members can qualify for recognition. Activities planned to honor the award recipients are scheduled for June 2 as part of an exposition at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Popov is the fourth faculty member in a safety sciences program to achieve this recognition.

"It is a great honor for me to receive the FAIHA designation. As OSH (occupational safety and health) professionals, we have to continue to reduce risk and be vital members of multidisciplinary teams to provide value to our organizations,” Popov said. “By achieving this designation, I’m committed to advancing the science of occupational safety and health, and for investing time in ensuring our profession is recognized as one of the most valuable pieces of the Enterprise Risk Management system for any organization."

Popov has been a member of AIHA for more than 15 years, and approximately 14 of those years were spent  serving UCM students. He joined the university in 2006, and serves within the College of Health, Science, and Technology.

During his career at UCM, Popov served as an American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Mid-America Local Section past president. He also chaired the AIHA Joint Science Subcommittee, is past chair of the Value Strategy Committee and the Environmental Issues Committee. His involvement in professional-related organizations also includes being a full member of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) since 2008, where he is a member of the ASSP Risk Assessment Committee.

Popov has received numerous professional honors, including selection by UCM for the Missouri Governor’s  Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009 and the AIHA President’s Award in 2011. Popov is a member of ASSP’s Heart of America Chapter and was recognized as the chapter’s 2015 Safety Professional of the Year (SPY). In 2016, he received the ASSE Region V SPY Award, and the following year was the ASSP Outstanding Safety Educator Award recipient.

Active in scholarly endeavors, Popov has authored numerous risk assessment related articles in “Professional Safety,”  international scientific publications, and other trade journals. Throughout his tenure, he has been a frequent speaker at national, regional and local conferences, and was the coauthor of a book titled “Risk Assessment – A Practical Guide to Assessing Operational Risks,” published in June 2016.

Popov co-authored a book, published in 2018 by ASSP, “Risk Management Tools for Safety Professionals.”