Shifting gears smoothly

Kleine, a 30-year veteran of Cummins Inc. and former SAE Commercial Vehicle VP, seeks continuity over change as he moves into SAE's driver's seat.

The first year of a U.S. President's term is often viewed as an adjustment period where even mild victories are celebrated. Presidents of SAE International do not have that luxury, serving just a one-year term as opposed to the U.S. President's traditional four years. As SAE International works toward its goals of becoming the premier society in the mobility industry according to its Vision 2020 initiative, the transition from one President to the next is crucial as the incoming President must determine his or her own unique focus areas while often carrying on some of the goals of the outgoing President.

“[2010 SAE President Andrew Brown Jr.] and I have spent some time talking about how we transition, not how we change,” said 2011 SAE International President Richard E. “Ric” Kleine. “I'm not going to come in and take all his pictures off the wall and put up all my stuff and change it. What I'm going to do is take a lot of what we've started this year and continue it, so we have continuity from one to the other.”