Ron was a great leader," said Workforce columnist Gary Kushner, who is the president and CEO of consultancy Kushner & Co and a friend of Pilenzo's. "Back before it was SHRM and was known as ASPA [the American Society for Personnel Administration], Ron provided leadership and vision into where the HR profession was going. In fact, he had the foresight [to hire] Sue Meisinger to head up the nascent government affairs office for ASPA. We all know of her success in that and other roles at SHRM, including as the CEO.