Jake Pauls presented with inaugural award at High-Rise Building Safety Conference
Jake Pauls, pioneer of over 50 years of research, consulting, and advocacy on issues of pedestrian movement, building evacuation, and usability; was presented with the inaugural “Jake Pauls Award” for his outstanding contributions to building and fire safety.
Pauls is widely recognized as a leader in building evacuation and use and design of stairs. He sits on 15 code-writing committees representing the American Public Health Association and other groups.
The award was presented by Sally Regenhard and Monica Gabrielle, both of whom lost family members in the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Above — (Left to Right) Glenn Corbett, Sally Regenhard, Jake Pauls, and Monica Gabrielle.
Pauls began his career with the National Research Council of Canada in the late 1960s, and wrote the first dissertation examining emergency evacuation of buildings. Pauls was an early advocate for a study of the World Trade Center evacuation, and an inaugural advisor to the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, which successfully advocated for numerous building safety improvement in New York and beyond.
Pauls’ address provided a 2000 year history of the use of stairs in evacuation. Pauls forcefully advocated for the need to collect basic data on stair use and evacuation to reflect changing social, health, and demographic characteristics of tall building occupants. He presentation referenced remarks made upon conferral of an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Greenwich in 2017.
