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CSI Awards 2018 Q&A: Distinguished Member Gregory J. Markling

By CSI HQ posted 08-16-2018 04:15 PM

  
CSI is pleased to recognize the 2018 Honors & Awards Winners. Recipients will be recognized during the CSI Honors and Awards Ceremony at CONSTRUCT 2018 in Long Beach, CA, on Thursday, October 4th. You can register to attend the ceremony in person here

Gregory J. Markling, FCSI, Lifetime Member, CSC, CCS, CCCA, will be awarded the Distinguished Member Honor at the ceremony. Here, he discusses what the award means to him, and how CSI has impacted his life and career.

What does the Distinguished Member Award mean to you?
I have always said that I never even thought that joining and becoming involved in CSI would result in any accolades at all—I joined because I believed (and still do) that CSI is the most important association of design and construction professionals in our industry because it brings all of us together as colleagues, not adversaries. This award means that my CSI colleagues felt strongly enough about my contributions to CSI and to our industry to nominate me, which is humbling and deeply appreciated. This award also means that my work has apparently made a positive difference to some of those people as individuals, and to our industry as well—I’m greatly honored.

As this award recognizes distinguished service and your lifetime of work, of all your contributions to CSI, which of them are most significant to you?
Having served and participated at all levels of CSI over the course of my career, and having served on a great number of committees, task teams, and boards of directors, etc., I can say that the most significant contribution to me was my near-decade on the Certification Committee during the 1990’s. It was during that period of time that the CCPR and CCCA programs were launched, and CDT was just coming on board as well. Also, all of the exams became machine-gradable during that time. I can say without reservation that with the involvement of a great many of CSI’s best, who served on that Committee during that time, CSI’s Certification Programs came into their own; making CSI’s Certifications among the most meaningful and beneficial in our industry.

How has being a member of CSI informed your life and career?
As I look back on a 36 year (and counting) career in CSI, and an over 42 year career in our industry, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between career and personal life, since the two have been so closely linked in so many ways. There is no doubt in my mind that the knowledge that I have gained as an active member of CSI, through the countless individuals that I have encountered and come to know (many of whom are now lifelong friends), has informed both my personal life and professional career in ways that I could never have anticipated when I first joined CSI in 1982, fresh out of college. The amazing this about that is the learning has not stopped as I continue to involve myself in this great association, and I’m making new friendships all along the way as well.

What has been your favorite aspect of making your career in this field?
Hands down, my favorite aspect of making my career as an architect, and now an Independent Specifications and Project Delivery consultant, is that I have been able to work with and alongside some amazingly talented and knowledgeable professionals, and learn from them as I’ve tried to take a keen interest in what they do and how they do it, so that what I could bring to the process might help them do it even better. I made a commitment to myself coming out of College that I wanted to learn as much as I could over a life-long career, and try to become as competent in as many aspects of my profession as I could. I knew that I would never actually achieve that goal literally, but I hoped that if I never quit trying, that I would find myself in a great place in the end—I’m satisfied that I have kept that commitment to myself, and that I now find myself in a great place at this stage in my career.

Is there anyone you would like to recognize for supporting the work you do?
There are so many names that could be mentioned here, but there’s not enough space! However, my colleagues and friends in my Denver home chapter are among the most supportive and encouraging people I have come to know in CSI. They have honored me and my work in CSI consistently throughout my CSI career, and I am indebted to them always for their unwavering support over the years. I would also specifically mention Paul Simonsen, FCSI, Distinguished Member, and Lee Beil, FCSI—you both know why! I’d also specifically mention Sal Verrastro, FCSI, Distinguished Member, Mitch Miller, FCSI, and Alana Sunness Griffith, FCSI, Lifetime Member, Distinguished Member—you all know why! Thanks, from the bottom of my heart!

What advice would you share with newer CSI members about how to have a career as fulfilling as yours?
Get involved, and seek out where you can deploy your gifts and talent on behalf of CSI in our great industry—don’t do it for recognition; don’t do it for any other reason than that your contributions will make a difference, and will serve to advance design and construction practices in our industry in ways you cannot yet imagine.

Read more about the CSI Honors & Awards Program here.
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