Grant Watson is the director the of Institutional Safety Management Division of the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance. In this role, Watson is responsible for facilitating a team dynamic across the centers, advocating for centers at the Headquarters level, establishing delegated safety program leads, driving policy direction and change, and implementing Institutional Safety Authority.
Prior to this role, Watson was the Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) director at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. In this role, Watson was the senior management official responsible for the health and safety of over 3,600 engineers, technicians and scientists. He also was responsible for facility assurance of research facilities valued at more than $3.3 billion.
Langley, founded in 1917, is the nation’s first civilian aeronautical research facility and NASA’s oldest field center. Langley was the first federal facility to achieve the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Voluntary Protection Programs Star status in 1998, and was re-certified in 2002, 2007 and 2012. This recognition by OSHA is indicative that Langley’s health and safety program is world-class. Watson has played a role in implementing, developing and leading this world-class health and safety program since 1995.
Watson has more than 20 years of SMA experience, performing or leading work in the following areas: Occupational Safety, industrial hygiene, health and medical, facility assurance, Fire Protection, emergency services, System Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance. He has held key SMA positions at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Langley, worked in private industry, and supported the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation. He also contributed to the mission success of numerous space shuttle launches, the Ares 1-X vehicle, and the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System instruments.
Watson is a graduate of the Florida Institute of Technology where he received bachelor’s and master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He received a master’s degree in engineering management from Old Dominion University and is a recipient of the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. He currently resides in Yorktown, Virginia, with his wife and enjoys running and spending time with his daughters.
