Deborah Boehm-Davis
University Professor Emeritus, George Mason University
PhD, Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 1980
M.A., Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, 1977
B.A., Psychology, Douglass College, Rutgers – the State University, New Brunswick, NJ, 1975
Certified Human Factors Professional, Board of Certification on Professional Ergonomics
I am honored to be considered for President-Elect and I write to ask for your vote. HFES has been integral to my professional journey. My involvement with HFES began with volunteer work in the Computer Systems Technical Group, progressing from reviewing conference submissions to serving as TG Chair. Around that time, I also served as treasurer of my local chapter (the Potomac Chapter). I have since been involved in many activities, such as chairing the Council on Technical Groups, the Outreach Division, and Government Relations Committee. In addition, I served on the Human Factors journal’s Editorial Board (1986-2006) and as Associate Editor (2006-2013). I have held Society-wide roles as the Society’s Secretary-Treasurer (1990-91), President (1993-94), and Member-at-Large (2021-2024). Currently, I chair the Leadership Development Committee. This service has led to a large circle of friendship and support, which I would like to continue to build.
My career spans government (NASA-Ames, FDA), industry (Bell Labs, GE, Meta), and academia (George Mason University), with experience across consumer products, aviation, medical, HCI, virtual/augmented reality, and surface transportation. These varied experiences will be useful to me in helping to shape HFES programming and services for the future.
So, what does it mean to be president-elect? The president-elect serves as a member of the Society’s Executive Council (EC), whose role is to develop strategic goals for HFES and establish mechanisms to achieve those objectives. Recent priorities among incoming presidents have included enhancing support for volunteers, updating strategic goals, creating regional meetings, restructuring organizational charts for improved communication and effectiveness, and expanding our international presence.
If elected, I would build on these efforts with the goal of providing all members with valuable and relevant services. Although many members are happy with the services that we provide, we know that we have lost members who feel that we do not serve them well. In addition, I want to ensure that our staff and volunteers are supported without being overburdened. Finally, I also aim to help recover important institutional knowledge, some of which I fear has been lost. As a retiree, I have the time and dedication to actively contribute to HFES and I look forward to collaborating with members of the Executive Council if elected.