SIA Committee Chair of the Year Award
Recognizing Individuals for Leadership of a SIA Committee
About the SIA Committee Chair of the Year Award
The SIA Committee Chair of the Year Award is presented to the individual who, in his or her leadership of an SIA committee, has demonstrated excellence in leading SIA committees and advancing member objectives. The Committee Chair of the Year Award is presented at The Advance, SIA's annual membership meeting held during ISC West.
2026 SIA Committee Chair of the Year: Dan Merkle
SIA has named Dan Merkle, chair of the SIA Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board, as the 2026 recipient of the SIA Committee Chair of the Year Award.
Dan Merkle is an active advisor, board member and investor focused on security-related enterprises. He serves as chair of the SIA Artificial Intelligence (AI) Advisory Board and on the executive board of the National Policing Institute. Merkle was the founding chairman and CEO of Lexipol, the nation’s leading provider of governance and compliance applications for public safety agencies. He served as president of Veritone Public Safety through their IPO and chairman and CEO of the FaceFirst facial recognition platform.
Under Merkle’s leadership, SIA’s Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board provides guidance on the safe, responsible and effective use of AI in security solutions. Merkle has contributed to the development of key resources from the advisory board, including SIA’s Glossary of AI Terms in Security Solutions and Guide to AI Uses Cases in Security, and during his time as chair the advisory board has grown All Things AI, a monthly newsletter on AI-related topics, and produced a steady stream of article and blog content. Merkle has been an active participant and speaker at ISC West on AI topics and will soon moderate a session on the role of agentic AI in security solutions at ISC West 2026. He supported the development of SIA facial recognition resources like the Principles for the Responsible and Effective Use of Facial Recognition Technology. Under his leadership, the AI Advisory Board helped drive SIA’s partnership with the Confederation of European Security Services (CoESS), which will include an upcoming joint webinar focusing on AI regulations.
Previous Committee Chairs of Year
- 2025: Jeff Huggins
- 2023: Lee Odess
- 2022: Alice DiSanto
- 2021: Matt Feenan
- 2020: Kathleen Carroll
- 2019: Chris Grniet
- 2018: James Marcella
- 2017: John Steele
- 2016: Peter Michael
- 2015: Richard Brent
- 2013: John Hunepohl
- 2012: Frank Gastonyi
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