Project Management Institute Honors Cable

The Project Management Institute (PMI), the world’s largest association for project managers, has honored John H. Cable, RA, PMP, with a 2012 PMI Distinguished Contribution Award for his service to PMI and his dedication to excellence in project management education. The award was presented during PMI’s annual awards ceremony on October 20. A global panel of experts awards this honor annually to one individual who advances the field of project management.

“John Cable’s superior contributions will have broad, lasting impact on the field of project management, and therefore on business,” says David Pells of PM World Journal. “His efforts directly impact the national and global economy.” According to a 2011 PMI study, implementing project management can help federal government agencies reduce costs by 20 to 30 percent.

Cable has been an innovator in more than three different career fields. While at the newly formed U.S. Department of Energy in 1980, he was recognized by Engineering News Record as “one who served in the best interests of the building industry” for his work in building energy conservation research developing energy standards for buildings, methods for measuring energy consumption, and managing primary research in energy conservation that has enabled the development of the energy saving products in use today.

As an architect and builder, Cable founded and led John Cable Associates in 1984, a design build firm. That work resulted in his being recognized by Remodeling Magazine as one of the top 50 remodeling contractors in the U.S. in 1992.

In 1999 he was recruited by the Clark School’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to create and manage a graduate program in project management. In his role as founder and director of the Project Management Center for Excellence at the Clark School, the program has grown to offer an undergraduate minor, master’s degrees, and a doctoral program. More than 1,300 seats are filled annually with students from many countries and visiting scholars come to learn about the program, conduct their own research, and teach graduate students.

With his appointment in 2001 by the PMI Board of Directors to a task team, the team was asked to define the parameters for an accreditation program for project management education; Cable brought his innovation skills to establishing accreditation standards for post-secondary education in project management.

In 2002, PMI formed the Global Accreditation Center for Project Management Educational Programs (GAC). Cable was appointed to that inaugural board where he served as vice chair.

In 2006, he was elected as chairman, a role he will continue to hold through 2012. In concert with an increasingly global GAC board, the growth of accredited project management educational programs has dramatically exceeded expectations: 86 programs at 40 institutions in 15 countries in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the Asia Pacific Region. Currently, Cable is working to expand project management education, accreditation and representation in China, India and Brazil.

Throughout a career that includes design, construction, research, and education, Cable has exhibited and advocated for excellence in project management.

“It has been my deep pleasure to serve the PMI GAC first as a founding member and then as chairman of the GAC board," Cable said. "It has been a privilege to lead the development of the GAC into a well-recognized global accreditation body working with an extraordinary group of board members. Together we have made the organization what it is today. Personally, I appreciate the recognition of the PMI community for my service to the GAC and look forward to its continuing success in setting innovative standards for college program accreditation.”

Published October 21, 2012