Two Past ASSE Presidents Made Fellows
Nancy McWilliams of Virginia Beach, Va., and Kathy Seabrook of Mendham, N.J., will receive the honor of Fellow, recognizing their career-long commitments to worker safety and their leadership in the profession, during the Safety 2016 conference.
As thousands of members of the American Society of Safety Engineers prepare to attend ASSE's Safety 2016 conference and expo next week, the society is preparing to honor two of its past presidents -- Nancy McWilliams of Virginia Beach, Va., and Kathy Seabrook of Mendham, N.J. They will receive the honor of Fellow, its highest distinction, recognizing their career-long commitments to worker safety and their leadership in the profession, during the conference.
McWilliams retired in 2013 as director of U.S. Department of Commerce's office of occupational safety and health. She cited two events that stood out in her career: "First, following 9/11, chairing a federal interagency working group in D.C. for three years that helped over 40 agencies improve their emergency plans. Second, being on a 2011 task force of the Federal Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health that gave OSHA specific recommendations asking the Office of Personnel Management to strengthen the hiring criteria for safety managers in the federal workforce to include a college degree or certification."
Seabrook, the founder and president of Global Solutions, Inc., has safety and health certifications in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, enabling her to consult with multinational companies across the globe. Her work in Europe in the 1990s introduced her to risk-based systems approaches that she has advocated in the United States, including her leadership in developing the ISO 45001 global management system. Her work as chair of the Center of Safety and Health Sustainability has helped move corporations to include their occupational safety and health records as part of the financial information they give to the investment community.
"As one of ASSE's current Fellows shared with me, this is not an award but a designation," Seabrook said. "It is earned through a lifetime of work on behalf of our profession. For that, I am humbled and grateful for the opportunities I have had. I have contributed and worked alongside and been mentored by some of the best in our profession."