BCSP presents its Awards of Excellence annually to the best of the best credential holders among its various certification categories. The 2025 awards recognize recipients from among the CSP and SMP certifications.
CSP Award of Excellence
Matthew Herron, MS, PE, CSP, CPE
Herron has demonstrated expertise in building, managing, and auditing occupational health and safety management systems and solving complex safety issues by applying occupational safety engineering, industrial engineering, and ergonomics principles.
He holds a master’s degree in Occupational Safety Engineering and Ergonomics from the University of Michigan and a bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of West Georgia.
Herron is a volunteer leader for ASSP, serving as a Regional Vice President with oversight of 13 ASSP chapters and student sections, and a BCSP Ambassador, encouraging others toward professional safety certification.
SMP Award of Excellence
Georgi Popov, Ph.D., CSP, QEP, SMP, ARM, CMC, FASSP, FAIHA
He is a previous recipient of ASSP’s Heart of America Chapter and Region 5 Safety Professional of the Year awards and the organization’s Outstanding Safety Educator Award. He is also a three-time recipient of the AIHA President’s Award.
Dr. Popov is a member of ASSP’s Risk Management/Insurance Practice Specialty, serves as chair or vice chair of multiple ANSI/ASSP standards committees, and holds three ASSP professional certificates.
He earned a Ph.D. from the National Scientific Board and a master’s in Nuclear Physics from Defense University in Bulgaria and graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
Dr. Popov has served as Editor-in-Chief of the SHIFT Journal, the BCSP Foundation’s research publication, since 2022.