William Jefferson Tangye, ICC Chief Executive Officer

“Hi, I’m Bill Tangye, and I work for Southern Building Code Congress.” 

That’s how William Tangye, PE, SBCCI’s CEO from 1982 until 2002 began nearly every company speech he ever made.  He insisted that his philosophy, that “I work for the members of this organization, not the other way around”, be practiced by everyone at SBCCI.

 Mr. Tangye joined Southern Building Code Congress International, Inc. in 1975 as the director of engineering services and chief engineer.  In 1982, he was named SBCCI’s chief executive officer.  Prior to joining SBCCI, Mr. Tangye was director of field engineering for BOCA International.  On September 19, 2001, the International Code Council Board of Directors, meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, named him ICC’s first Chief Executive Officer.

 “Bill was always the calming factor in the storm.  Whenever he was in a meeting, he would let everyone have an opportunity to speak his piece.  Anyone who didn’t know him would think he wasn’t paying attention but what he was really doing was absorbing all that was being said and how everyone was feeling.  Then, when everyone was done, he would offer a solution that everyone was happy with.  Most of the time the rest of us would say, ‘Now why didn’t we think of that’.”

 The members of SBCCI as well as other organizations appreciated Mr. Tangye’s leadership.  The boards of all the model code organizations (MCOs) showed their confidence in him when they appointed him the first chief executive officer of the International Code Council, an organization into which the three MCOs are currently consolidating.

 “Even when I didn’t agree with him, I knew I could always count on him to be fair.  When I deserved it, he could take me to task for the mistakes I made, but he never embarrassed me in front of another person, and once the incident was over, he never brought it up again.  Bill was one of the finest consensus builders I have had the pleasure to encounter and his example and leadership will continue to be an inspiration to the ICC.”

 Mr. Tangye was a registered professional engineer in several states, as well as a registered fire protection engineer in California.  He held an undergraduate degree from California State Polytechnic University at Pomona as well as graduate degrees from the University of Southern California and California State University at Long Beach.  In addition to several honors recognizing his contribution to the advancement of building safety and the code enforcement profession, Mr. Tangye was appointed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan as one of twelve public members of the U.S. Architectural Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (ATBCB).  He was elected chairman of the ATBCB in May of 1988.

Recipients of the William J Tangye Scholarship