MEDFORD, N.J. — The Life Safety Alliance (LSA), a non-profit organization open to all members of the security and life safety community, today announces the inaugural class of the Life Safety Alliance Legends Program, formally establishing “the highest level of recognition within the global security and life safety profession.”
The Legends Program “was created to define, preserve and uphold the profession’s most enduring contributions,” according to the alliance announcement. It “acknowledges individuals whose contributions have significantly benefited their organizations or fields.”
These leaders “helped shape the modern practice of security, safety and risk across sectors and generations,” the announcement says.
“From the outset, we wanted this program to reflect the full breadth of our profession,” says Michael Gips, Life Safety Alliance president and co-chairman of the Legends committee, in the alliance announcement. “We evaluated dozens of nominees across physical and cybersecurity, life safety, intelligence, loss prevention, resilience, governance, investigations and so on.
“Our goal is to recognize those whose influence transcended any single role or sector,” he says.
How Did Life Safety Alliance Pick the 2026 Legends?
Life Safety Alliance Legends nominees were assessed using “a structured process based on professional judgment, historical importance and long-lasting, influential contributions to the field,” according to the alliance announcement. “From an exceptionally accomplished pool spanning disciplines, sectors and geographies, only a select group met the threshold required for elevation to Legends status.”
“We set out to establish the measure of a Legend, which is an order of magnitude above the top, the best, or even the most popular,” says Jonathan Perillo, co-chairman of the Legends Committee, in the Life Safety Alliance announcement. “Legends are the few who turn the tide of theory or practice, whose stories are carried through generations and whose efforts are frequently invoked to inspire greatness.
“To capture this, we abandoned traditional measures and instead collected what truly resonates as a Legend. I’m delighted to announce that we were successful in this pursuit across all fields of the security spectrum, and we are thrilled to announce our inaugural class of Legends,” he says.
This Year’s Life Safety Alliance Legends
Here are the inaugural Life Safety Alliance Legends, listed alphabetically by last name:
• Marene Allison, a security executive and among the first women to graduate from West Point. She pioneered the integration of physical and cybersecurity leadership at Fortune 500 corporations.
• Steve Bellovin, an Internet security pioneer who co-invented encrypted key exchange, password-authenticated key agreement methods and co-authored “Firewalls & Internet Security: Repelling the Wily Hacker,” helping define the technical foundations of modern network defense.
• Jason Brown, a corporate security leader who advanced enterprise-wide security strategy, operational resilience and executive engagement across global organizations.
• Russell J. Cancilla, a security executive and educator who elevated the professional stature of corporate security through leadership development, industry service and standards advancement.
• Tim Crowe, a criminologist instrumental in the development and global adoption of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), reshaping how the built environment reduces crime and enhances public safety.
• Sandi Davies, who was behind the professionalization of frontline security. She expanded education, certification and global engagement through her leadership of the International Foundation for Protection Officers.
• Whitfield Diffie, a co-creator of public-key cryptography, whose work on asymmetric encryption and secure key exchange transformed global communications security and enabled modern digital commerce.
• Eduard Emde, a longtime international security leader and standards advocate who strengthened global collaboration, certification frameworks and professional governance within ASIS International and across the worldwide security community.
• Larry Fennelly, an author and educator in physical security and CPTED whose publications and instruction shaped generations of practitioners and embedded environmental design principles into mainstream security practice.
• Martin Gill, a criminologist, researcher, academic and longtime editor of Security Journal who elevated evidence-based scholarship and helped bridge research and real-world security practice.
• Godfried Hendriks, a global security strategist and certification champion who advanced international professional standards and strengthened cross-border collaboration within the security field.
• Sandra Jones, a public- and private-sector security leader who advanced professional standards, mentorship and the development of diverse leadership talent within the industry.
• Bonnie Michelman, a healthcare security executive who elevated hospital and campus safety into a strategic discipline and championed collaboration between public safety and private security.
• Ray O’Hara, one of the principal architects of Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) and an ASIS president. He helped align security strategy with organizational objectives while advancing global standards and certification.
• Don W. Walker, an ASIS president and co-founder of the CSO Center who played a pivotal role in aligning corporate security with business leadership, strengthening executive skillsets and advancing professional standards and certification.
Collectively, these legends “represent the architects, stewards and standard-bearers of modern security and life-safety practice,” according to the Life Safety Alliance announcement. “Their influence spans physical security, cybersecurity, risk management, governance, research, education, intelligence and professional standards development.”
The inaugural class “also lays the foundation for the program’s future,” the announcement says. “Designed as an enduring institution rather than a one-time recognition, the Legends Program will continue to identify individuals whose careers demonstrate the same level of transformative and sustained impact.”
“This first class establishes the standard,” says Gips in the Life Safety Alliance. “In the years ahead, the program will continue to recognize those whose work has shaped, and will continue to shape, how our profession protects people, information, organizations and communities.”
