Dr. John Granito Award for Excellence in Fire Leadership and Management Research

Dr. John Granito is widely recognized as one of the premier fire service and public safety consultants in the United States. In all, Granito has participated in more than 400 fire department studies that have increased fire service performance and productivity on an extremely broad scale.

Granito has strong ties to the International Fire Service Training Association (IFSTA), OSU and to academia in general. For 27 years, he served in a number of academic positions, the last 16 of which were at the State University of New York Binghamton. He is Professor Emeritus and Retired Vice President for Public Service and External Affairs at SUNY Binghamton, which is consistently ranked as one of the top public universities by U.S. News and World Report. Granito has published numerous articles, chapters and technical papers; served as co-editor of the 2002 book published by the International City/County Management Association, Managing Fire and Rescue Service; and was a Section Editor of the NFPA 2008 Fire Protection Handbook.

Granito was the first recipient of the Dr. John Granito Award for Excellence in Fire Leadership and Management Research, which honors him and his contributions to the fire service and academia. Each year, the recipient of this distinguished award presents the keynote address at the annual International Fire Service Journal of Leadership and Management Research Symposium held in conjunction with the IFSTA Validation Conference.

Dr. Kenny Fent, research industrial hygienist at NIOSH and commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, was awarded the Dr. John Granito Award for Excellence in Fire Leadership and Management Research during the International Fire Service Journal of Management and Leadership’s Research Symposium held in conjunction with the 89th Annual IFSTA^Ⓡ Validation Conference on July 9, 2022.

Currently, he is focusing his research on assessing dermal and inhalation exposures to combustion byproducts in firefighters. Also, Dr. Fent is involved in a comprehensive study of cardiovascular and carcinogenic risks during firefighting.

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