David A. Lucht, P.E.
Adjunct Professor and Director Emeritus, Center for Firesafety Studies
Instructional Areas
Teaching focus is on engineering practice; the business of engineering, communication, entrepreneurship.
Research Interests
Research interests include building codes, regulatory reform; innovation in engineering design and regulatory practices.
About Professor Lucht
Professor Lucht’s career in the fire protection field has spanned a period of over 40 years with experience in business, government and academia. He holds a bachelor of science degree in fire protection and safety engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.
His interest in the field began at an early age when he served as a member of Middlefield Volunteer Fire Department in his home town of Middlefield, Ohio. The initial portion of his career was in the state of Ohio, where he worked as a field engineer in the Sprinklered Risk Department of the Ohio Inspection Bureau (now Insurance Services Office) and later as Project Engineer and Research Associate in the Building Research Laboratory, The Ohio State University. Subsequently he served as the Ohio State Fire Marshal under Ohio Governor John J. Gilligan. This is the highest ranking fire safety post in Ohio government.
In 1974 Congress passed the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act which created the United States Fire Administration. Subsequently President Gerald Ford nominated Lucht as the first presidential appointee in the newly created agency. He assumed the post of Deputy Administrator in 1975 after confirmation by the United States Senate. He was reappointed by President Jimmy Carter and continued in that position until 1978.
In 1978 Lucht moved to Massachusetts where he beame executive vice president of a Boston area consulting firm and simluatneously assumed the position as the first director of the newly created Center for Firesafety Studies at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He discontiued his consulting practice in 1985 to devote full time to his work at WPI. During his leaderhip WPI launched the nation’s first MS degree program in fire program in fire protecion engineering (1979); a first of its kind PhD program in fire proteciton engineering was started in 1991. Over the years WPI became recognized as the leader in fire protection engineering graduate education, worldwide. Lucht retired from his fire proteciton engineering post in 2004, the 25th Anniversary Year of the WPI fire protection engineering graduate program.
In order to achive some transitional overlap with his fire protection engineering successor, Lucht transfeerred to an administrative position at WPI, serving as Associate Vice President in the Division of Development and University Relations for 12 months. He focused on university market research and continued an academic affiliation as adjunct professor and Director Emeritus of the Center for Firesafety Studies. He fully retired from university service in 2005 with emeritus status.
Throughout his career, he has been highly active in service to the profession. He served as a member of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Board of Trustees for over ten years and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Board of Directors for nine years. He is a Fellow and Past President of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) and chaired the SFPE Board of Directors.
Lucht’s honors and recognitions include the SFPE Presidents Award (1988), Harold E. Nelson Service Award (1993), and the Arthur B. Guise Medal and Prize (2002). In 2004 he received the William R. Grogan Award from the WPI Alumni Association. In 2005 the SFPE created the David A. Lucht Lamp of Knowledge Award in his honor. This presegious award will be presented annually to individuals and organizations who stand out as supporters of higer education. In his younger years he received the United States Jaycees Distinguished Service Award.
Professor Lucht has considerable experience in corporate nonprofit governance. During service on the NFPA Board of Directors he chaired the Governance and Nominating committees and served on the Executive, Long Range Planning, Finance, Audit and Government Relations committees. He served as Second Vice Chair of the NFPA Board of Directors and chaired by-laws governance reform initiatives for NFPA, SFPE and UL. He served on the Executive Committee of the UL Board of Trustees and chaired its Public Safety and Consumer Affairs Committee. He chaired the UL Long Range Strategic Planning Committee for six years.
Lucht is a corporator at the Worcester Ecotarium and serves on the Boards of Trustees of the Master Singers of Worcester, the Worcester Art Museum and the Center for Technology Commericalization. He is a member of the Stephen Salisbury Society and serves on the Governing Council of the First Congregational Church of Shrewsbury.
Professor Lucht is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts.
Detailed Resume (PDF)
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