Details

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What is your position within your company?
I am president of TEGNOS Research Inc., Carmel, Ind.

What is the most unusual roofing project of which you have been a part?
My most memorable project was more than 30 years ago when I was a project estimator. It involved the renovation of a 100-year-old bandstand that featured a formed copper roof system resembling ancient Chinese tiles.

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I am vice president of research for the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing and a technical consultant for several other industry organizations. I also serve on the boards of the Cool Roof Rating Council and the RCI Foundation.

Why did you become involved in the roofing industry?
After earning a drafting degree, I started working as an estimator for a contracting firm that specialized in metal buildings. Metal buildings led to metal roofing, which led to a job at Firestone Building Products in the early 1980s—just when rubber roofing was taking off.

What quality do you most like in a person?
A positive attitude

What was your first roofing experience?
I worked with an engineering crew installing "test roofs" to develop new roof systems and products. I quickly learned working under a scorching sun installing black rubber was a major test of character and resilience.

What are your favorite items on your desk?
A plaque with a quote from Isaiah 40:31 to remind me of the value of patience; a picture of my wife, Pam, from a vacation in Arizona; and a Pebble Beach coffee mug

What three condiments always are in your fridge?
Miracle Whip,® Thousand Island dressing and brown mustard

What do you consider a waste of time?
Cooking—too many great restaurants to waste my time and limited talents

What is your favorite stress reliever?
Looking out from our house in Arizona at the Santa Rita Mountains

If you could invite any three people to dinner (dead or alive), whom would you invite? Why?
Jimmy Carter, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat—although they were not able to bring lasting peace to the Middle East, I always have been intrigued how they overcame their different backgrounds and fears to forge the Camp David Accords.

If you could go back in time, what era would you visit?
I would visit Ancient Greece. Its culture permeates our daily experiences and makes us think and act the way we do.

What is your favorite meal?
Liver and onions­—my family lets me have it once a year on my birthday.

What is a motto you live by?
"Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

People would be surprised to know …
I played the organ with a rock group that won the 1966 Indiana State Fair Battle of the Bands contest. We even had our own van with our name (The Kandells) on the side. All I can say is you haven't lived until you get to play "Hip Hugger" on a Hammond B3 with dual Leslie speakers.