NRCA named Lindy Ryan, a former NRCA president, recipient of its 79th annual J.A. Piper Award Jan. 21 during the NRCA 2026 Industry Awards and Reception in Las Vegas. The J.A. Piper Award is the roofing industry’s most prestigious honor and recognizes roofing professionals who have devoted constant outstanding service to the association and roofing industry.
After attending University of Central Florida, Ryan returned home to the Florida town where she grew up. When her husband opened a small general contracting firm and had trouble finding a roofing contractor, Ryan and her husband obtained their roofing contractor licenses to conduct business in Florida. They subsequently converted their general contracting company, General Works, into an exclusively roofing business.
Fifteen years later, General Works became so successful it joined the Tecta America family. At Tecta America, Ryan rose through the corporate ranks to lead the southeast region, managing a large territory during a deep national recession. She developed a national service department and built one of the most robust employee training programs in the roofing industry, graduating hundreds of skilled professionals every year.
Inspired by a National Roofing Legal Resource Center seminar, Ryan joined NRCA in 1996. The first committee she served on was NRCA’s Health and Safety Committee, and because of her contributions, she chaired the committee for several years. She has served on many committees since then, including workforce development, membership marketing, quality assurance, community service and disaster relief, as well as the Executive Management Institute.
Ryan was elected to the board of directors and served multiple terms. In 2007, she was elected to and served as president of the National Roofing Legal Resource Center. She was elected to NRCA’s Executive Committee in 2010 and five years later was elected to become the first woman to serve as NRCA president. Ryan continued to serve on NRCA committees until her retirement in 2021.
Ryan continues to serve her community and is actively involved with Moose International, an organization dedicated to supporting youth and elderly people.
“She is an industry teacher, leader and mentor respected for her professional achievements, her steady demeanor and her unwavering commitment to excellence—not because she is a woman who blazed a trail in a male-dominated trade but because she knows and understands the business on a higher level than most,” said Dennis Conway, principal and vice president of Commercial Roofers Inc., Las Vegas, when presenting the award. “She has always been a contractor first and foremost. She earned the respect of an industry as a whole because of who she is as a leader. She is a true friend of the industry, and it has been a privilege and honor to work alongside her.”
First presented in 1948, the J.A. Piper Award is named for former NRCA President Joseph A. Piper, whose extraordinary efforts kept the association alive during the Great Depression.
