Valerie Block is the Executive Director of the Facade Tectonics Institute. Prior to assuming this position, she was the Secretary of the FTI Board of Directors and chair of the Marketing Committee. She was a marketing leader at Kuraray America and DuPont, working with architects and specifiers, structural engineers, facade consultants, and glass fabricators on the use of laminated glass in buildings. Valerie is a LEED® Accredited Professional with the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as a Construction Documents Technologist with the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). She has chaired ASTM International task groups, the US Technical Advisory Committee to ISO TC 160, ANSI Z97.1, and the Glazing Industry Code Committee. Before joining DuPont, she was the Technical Director of the Primary Glass Manufacturers Council and a consultant to the Glass Association of North America.A frequent speaker and author of articles about the use of glass in buildings, Valerie brings over 30 years of experience in the glass and glazing industry. She holds Masters Degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania.