Russell B. Leavitt, CFPS, SET

Executive Chairman & Board Member
 Telgian Holdings, Inc.

Russell Leavitt’s Telgian roots can be traced to the genesis of the company. In 1990, he co-founded Fire Design Group, which merged with Tomes, Van Rickley and Associates (TVA) in 1991. He subsequently served in numerous executive positions including TVA Fire and Life Safety President, Managing Member of Fire Materials Group, LLC, and CEO of Telgian. Today, Leavitt serves as the Executive Chairman for Telgian Holdings, Inc., as well as the Chairman of Telgian Fire Safety and Telgian Engineering & Consulting.

Leavitt is active in numerous trade and professional associations and holds several leadership positions. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors as Chair of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), he has served as the Chair of the NFPA 13 Technical Committee for Fire Sprinkler System Discharge Criteria and continues to serve as a Principal Member. He is also a Principal Member of the NFPA Technical Committee for Installation and a Principal Member of NFPA 3 and NFPA 4. Leavitt also represents NFPA 13 on the Technical Committee for NFPA 909 (Code for the Protection of Cultural Resource Properties) and 914 (Code for the Protection of Historic Structures).

Throughout his career, he has authored numerous articles and training guides, including the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) Beginning Inspector Training Program and the AFSA Online Hydraulics Training Program.  In addition, he is a major contributor to several NFPA Handbooks and served as the subject matter expert for numerous NFPA live and online training programs. 

Leavitt shares his more than 40 years of experience in the fire protection industry by conducting training presentations for many professional and industry organizations including the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), NFPA, and AFSA. 

In 2013, he received the AFSA Henry S. Parmelee Award for dedication to the professional advancement of the fire sprinkler industry and improvement of fire safety through automatic sprinklers. He is also the recipient of the NFPA Standards Council Special Achievement Award in 2018 for his leadership of the task group which completely reorganized NFPA 13 for the 2019 edition.

Leavitt is a Level IV NICET certified technician and Certified Fire Protection Specialist who holds fire protection contracting licenses in multiple states. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.