To qualify for the title of honorary member one has to have exceptional knowledge or exceptional merit in certain interfaces with crisis and/or emergency situation control, or in a science which is involved in this field of interest. The number of honorary members has been limited to one hundreth of the number of real TIEMS members. Changes of this number can be made by a ordinary majority of the general assembly. The appointment of a honorary member can only be decided unanimously by the board of directors. This membership has no voting rights in the general assembly. Honorary members have been exempted of the payment of an annual membership contribution.
TIEMS Board has appointed two honorary TIEMS members
Bernd Rohrmann was the second appointed TIEMS Honorary Member.
Scientific education in Germany (Masters, PhD and Habilitation degrees). Various positions as social scientist and lecturer at research institutions and universities. Then director of a social-scientific consultancy team and visiting lecturer in Austria , Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and HongKong. Since 1993 with The University of Melbourne in Australia.
Main study areas include: Applied social research, environmental psychology, and research methodology. Special substantive interests: Risk perception/attitudes/ communication/management, impacts of environmental stressors (e.g., noise, fires), hazard appraisal and disaster preparedness, residential choice and satisfaction, decision processes and decision-aiding technologies, and teaching quality. Methodological interests: Response scales, survey methodology, evaluation research, and structural models.
Design and conduct of numerous empirical investigations; strong emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches and applicability of findings. Regarding emergency management processes, several projects dealt with issues such as risk perception of different societal groups, improving disaster vigilance through risk communication, evaluation of community-based approaches, potential of the internet for enhancing residents' forest fire preparedness, and assessment of "fire" websites.
Also work as consultant with governmental agencies, courts and companies, on federal or state level. Publication of around 130 articles/reports/chapters/books.
Michael Bittle was the first appointed TIEMS Honorary Member.
Michael Bittle holds degrees in Business and Public Administration from the University of Ottawa and the Master of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario. He was awarded the Professional Administrator designation by the Canadian Institute for Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, and the Certified General Accountant designation by the Canadian Certified General Accountants’ Association. He subsequently obtained the Certified Business Resilience Manager designation from the Business Resilience Certification Consortium International and the Certified Continuity Manager designation from the National Institute for Business Continuity Management.
He was the first recipient of Honorary Life Membership in The International Emergency Management Society for services rendered to the international emergency management community. He was the inaugural Editor of the quarterly emergency management news magazine, CCEP News, published by the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness and the inaugural Editor and publisher of the longest-running business continuity e-zine newsletter, the Continuity Planner E-ZINE, published continuously since 1998. He initiated, designed and/or published inaugural websites for The International Emergency Management Society, the Disaster Recovery Information Exchange (SouthWestern Ontario), Emergency Preparedness Canada, the Disaster Recovery Institute Canada, the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness, the World Conference on Disaster Management, the National Association of State Emergency Management Directors, the International Association of Emergency Managers, the Air Medical Physicians Association, and many others.
Since 9/11, he has headed up the Institute for Business Continuity Training, a not-for-profit training company dedicated to helping corporations, government agencies and non-profit organizations plan and prepare for all-hazards.