Dick Bower, CSUMB’s emergency manager, has earned another credential to add to his considerable resume.

The Center for Public Safety Excellence, a nonprofit organization that helps public safety agencies improve their services in a variety of ways, has awarded Bower the professional designation of fire marshal. He is now one of only 3,000 fire service professionals worldwide who hold this credential.

The stringent process included an assessment of his education, experience, professional development, technical competencies, contributions to the profession and community involvement.

Typically, fire marshals enforce fire codes, teach fire prevention and find the cause of destructive fires. While the designation isn’t directly related to his position at CSUMB, Bower said it had long been his professional goal to earn the credential, and many of the skills that earned him this recognition are used in his work at the university.

Bower joined the university in late January with more than 27 years of experience in public service, including stints as a firefighter and emergency medical technician, fire marshal, fire chief, planning commissioner, building official and emergency manager.

Most recently, he served as the building and fire safety director and emergency management director of Gig Harbor, Wash., a position he held for nine years.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Puget Sound and a master’s degree in disaster preparedness and executive fire service leadership from Grand Canyon University.

In addition to certification as an emergency manager by the International Association of Emergency Managers and code official accreditation from the Washington Association of Building Officials, Bower holds numerous International Code Council certifications in building inspection and plan review.

He is working with the university and surrounding communities to improve emergency preparedness at all levels.