The Society Fellow honor acknowledges life-long excellence in safety and service by professional members of ASSE. Nominated by their peers, region or chapter, candidates for the Society Fellow honor are selected based upon their work, long-term contributions in advancing the safety profession, and ASSE involvement. Since 1961, only 102 Fellows have been named.
Mc Clay is a safety consultant and adjunct professor at East Carolina University's Center for Applied Technology, where he designs industry and hazard control programs and workshops. He previously taught in the Department of Safety Sciences at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), Indiana, PA, for over 20 years. He received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA; an MBA from American University, Washington, D.C.; and he completed graduate courses in Industrial Hygiene at the University of Pittsburgh, PA, and in Ergonomics and Industrial Engineering at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
Mc Clay was a qualified OSHA consultant with Pennsylvania-OSHA Consultation Agency at IUP, and he was named emeritus professor of Safety Sciences at IUP in 1999. He also developed and instructed a pyrotechnics safety course for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and he served as a U.S. naval officer. Mc Clay developed an important method for analyzing loss incidents and causes, referred to as "The Universal Model for Accident Causation."
Mc Clay was elected to the Rho Sigma Kappa Honor Society in Safety Sciences in 1993, and he is past president of the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP). He also is a current member of the System Safety Society (SSS).
A member of ASSE for 29 years, Mc Clay has held several positions at ASSE's national, local and regional levels, including serving as assistant regional vice president, past chapter president, chapter representative to the Government Affairs Committee in Pennsylvania, Technical Publications Advisory Committee chair, and as a founding member of the Academics Practice Specialty. Mc Clay currently serves as East Carolina Chapter president. He has recruited over 1,000 student members to ASSE, and he served as an ASSE student section advisor. Mc Clay developed the student leadership conference format for his region, which later became the model used by ASSE's eight regions. Mc Clay represents ASSE on the National Fire Protection Association 30 Committee on Flammable and Combustible Liquids and he served as a member of the ASSE/SSS liaison subcommittee. He is a recipient of the ASSE President's Award and the Safety Professional of the Year award for his chapter and region.