The American Lighting Association (ALA) announces that Terry McGowan, ALA’s director of engineering, will be inducted into the Lighting Hall of Fame on Sept. 24, during the annual Conference at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla.
ALA sought Terry’s lighting expertise back in 2002 as a consultant when the decorative lighting industry began to navigate the challenges of learning new technology, such as compact fluorescents. By 2003, Terry’s ability to make complicated subjects easier to understand was so invaluable that he was asked to officially join the ALA team. Over the ensuing 20+ years, Terry has been instrumental in guiding the Engineering Committee as well as ALA’s efforts to assist the industry in staying abreast of the latest technology.
“My job at ALA has involved the lighting revolution as it permeated the industry from the manufacturers and the reps to the showrooms,” he explains. “We’re still seeing that evolution happen now, but at the customer level. The industry has figured out LEDs, but consumers still don’t know how to buy a lightbulb.” The ALA and Terry were mentioned and interviewed in the January 2024 issue of Consumer Reports for the article “Understanding LED Lightbulbs.”
Fortunately, the ALA hired the best man for the job — someone who has been intrigued by lighting his entire life.
An inquisitive child fascinated by the scientific process of raising livestock on the family’s Ohio dairy farm, Terry was passionate about reading all he could about science whenever he had free time. “It could be a hot, sunny afternoon and I’d be sitting outside, reading a chemistry book. I enjoyed learning how things worked. I preferred reading chemistry books to novels,” he recalls.
And instead of the common boyhood aspirations of wanting to become an astronaut, police officer, or fireman, Terry remained true to his original ambition — to become an electrical engineer.
“I wouldn’t trade growing up on the farm for anything, but it was really interesting to enter junior high and suddenly there was this other world of math and science! Electricity was the answer for me,” he says. Offered several college scholarships, Terry graduated from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland (now Case Western Reserve University) with a degree in electrical engineering and was hired by GE Lighting at Nela Park.
“I started at GE in photometry – measuring the light output of fixtures and designing fixtures for new types of light bulbs,” he recalled. After two years, Terry shifted into the application engineering department, which he describes as “marketing, but with a technical point of view” — and that meant I talked about new light sources, new fixtures, and new applications.
Terry’s group then merged with the GE Lighting Institute as it was gaining global prominence. “It was called ‘The University of Light’ and attracted as many as 8,000 visitors each year – some staying one or two weeks. The Institute was unique. Visitors saw lighting in full-scale rooms and application areas such as stores, offices, and residences. It was a visual experience demonstrating good vs. bad lighting including illumination levels, glare, color, and visibility. The Lighting Institute was the place to go to be immersed in lighting,” he says.
When GE acquired British and European manufacturers, Terry traveled the world doing lighting presentations and helping to set up smaller lighting institutes in Brazil and Europe.
After a 30-year career at GE, Terry retired and established his own consulting business, Lighting Ideas Inc., which encompassed lighting application, engineering, and education. One of his main clients was the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a group of electric utilities that funded electrical industry research. “I managed all their lighting research and put on seminars and programs to bring the research results to manufacturers and practitioners. That was when I first learned about the link between light and human health,” he recounts.
Another area that intrigued Terry early on is the topic of dark skies. “I met Dave Crawford, who headed the International Dark Sky Association, when he spoke to a group of people in Cleveland, and we became very good friends. The dark sky issue is important; it’s not just about seeing the stars or keeping light out of your neighbors’ windows, but preserving the whole nighttime environment for animals, insects, and other living things that need darkness and don’t have it. It upsets the whole ecology.”
That concern for living things – an interest dating back to Terry’s childhood – is also the driving force for his current involvement in developing the ALA’s new Better Light, Better Sleep program.
“We know that light affects health, and that it’s not just beneficial for people who are sick, but also those who want to live well, live comfortably, and live longer. We need to get that idea of lighting’s health benefits out as a value proposition,” he states. “We have to send the message out and be able to sell products profitably that can do that. I think our Better Light, Better Sleep program is one of those key things that will take us into the future.”
In addition to his technical support of the ALA-member exclusive Better Light, Better Sleep program, Terry works with the ALA’s Engineering Committee and co-chairs, Mike O’Boyle and David Shiller to organize the ALA’s Engineering Committee’s monthly Zoom meetings, which include guest speakers from throughout the industry.
“These are changes – particularly in lighting safety standards and legislation – that have happened over the past 20 years that I don’t think most of our members realize all the ALA has done to protect and benefit them,” he says, referring to some of the standards that have been proposed that could put limitations on manufacturers. Members of ALA’s Engineering Committee – all of whom volunteer their time – keep track of the issues that are discussed at UL, the Canadian Standards Association, NEMA, and other relevant organizations. While it is a time-consuming endeavor – Terry sits on six UL committees and several others with the Illuminating Engineering Society – it is an invaluable benefit that trickles down to all levels of ALA membership as well as the lighting industry at large.
After 20 years with the ALA and 60 years in lighting overall, Terry remains enthusiastic about the industry as well as the American Lighting Association. “Few expected that when the first LEDs appeared as little dots of light, that they would take over the industry,” he comments. “At the time LEDs appeared, lighting companies were building fixtures for compact fluorescents. There were hundreds of different kinds of bulbs reaching for higher and higher efficiency in incandescent, fluorescent, and even HID. Then high-lumen, white light LEDs appeared and put a stop to all that. We’re seeing the end of those days now as fluorescent lamps are being legislated out of existence over concerns about mercury, and incandescent sources are phased out due to the efficiency of LEDs. These are indeed exciting times in lighting and I’m thankful to be part of it.”
Terry’s induction into ALA’s Lighting Hall of Fame will take place Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the ALA Conference at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. Registration for the ALA Conference can be completed online at ALAConference.com.