January 2, 2003 was the last day in the office for Gene Riley, a true stalwart in the emissions measurement field. Gene has set the standard for data quality assurance, sample integrity, and the safe implementation of source testing for over 35 years both in Federal government and private service to the industry. From the pioneering days of with US EPA and that organization’s predecessors to the present, Gene has been a leader in defining quality assurance standards and providing training in safe and high quality source testing for hundreds of government and private industry personnel. Gene designed and developed many of the data quality assurance and sample integrity procedures that are critical to obtaining high quality source testing results and that are now established standardized procedures as published in national and international regulatory methods.

Among his many contributions are standardized analytical procedures for measuring volatile and nonvolatile hazardous organic compounds. The current methods applied internationally reflect Gene’s influence and direction. Gene has counseled engineers and scientists, program managers, and technical staff around the world regarding the proper and safe conduct of air pollution source testing methods. He has provided training for Federal, state, and local agency management and staff from the earliest days of the trade to the present on the basic procedures to the most complex and advanced chemical and instrumental technologies. He has directed and conducted countless field test programs, participated in and led workshops and conferences on the proper and safe conduct of source testing, and authored or co-authored technical papers that are benchmarks in defining acceptable emissions measurement quality assurance practices. Gene has provided expert witness service for legal court actions for questions of sample integrity and measurement procedures. He has served on numerous national and international guiding committees, including the International Energy Agency, to establish comparable and accurate testing procedures. His dedication to source testing quality and integrity and safe implementation is known and respected on both a national and international level.

We will miss his leadership and knowledge around the office; although, we expect him to surface now and again when needed. We wish him well as he moves to his 90+ acre farm in North Carolina and gets more time to amuse himself with his farm tractors, bull dozers, and trucks.