Exactly 40 years after beginning his career at 3M, Galen Fitzel is retiring on July 31. Many in the industry know Fitzel, aka "Dr. Wood," from his years of being an instructor at the industry's wood flooring schools.
He began at 3M on Aug. 1, 1973, as a technician working at the company's now-defunct Division of Decorative Products, which made wood grain vinyl for Ford station wagons. After various other positions and divisions, in 1990 he started in the Construction Markets Division, working with abrasives for the wood flooring industry, and began teaching at the NOFMA school in Memphis. Since then Fitzel has taught hundreds of students about sanding, abrasives and job-site safety, instilling sanding wisdom such as, "If you don't put the deep scratch in, you don't have to take the deep scratch out!" He also served on the NWFA board of directors, as well as multiple committees, including the Technical Manual Committee and Magazine Committee. "Of all the industries and people I have had the opportunity to meet and work with over my career at 3M, the hardwood floor contractors are some of the best blue-collar work-ethic people I have ever been associated with," Fitzel said.
Here are some photos of Fitzel's career, starting with an undated 3M photo (with Fitzel at the far right):
At an NWFA school in January 1993:
At a 1995 NWFA school:
Teaching buffer technique at a 1997 NOFMA School in Memphis:
Enjoying the NOFMA School in Memphis with fellow instructor Larry Alfieri in 1998:
At the 1999 NWFA Advanced School in St. Louis:
During a 1999 NWFA School in Rockford, Ill.:
At a 2001 NWFA School in Minnesota:
With fellow Honorary Vanguard degree recipient Tom Peotter at the NWFA Expo in April in Dallas:
At his final wood flooring school at the NWFA headquarters in St. Louis in June:
